


The Most Dangerous Weapon Is A Wonderful Women

by Aaliyahgathor



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Hosie
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-05-07
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:47:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 26,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23261218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aaliyahgathor/pseuds/Aaliyahgathor
Summary: Josie wants to be friends with Hope again. Between managing monsters, school, and past relationships, they get closer again until Josie suddenly realizes how her feelings developed. She is past wanting to be friends and realizes she has a crush on Hope. Again. Does she tell her? Does Hope return her feelings? And will she want a relationship?Hope broke up with Landon after he dissapeared with Raf. Penelope and Josie broke up too. not to much 2 season stuff since I can't watch that yet in Germany.I just want a happy everyday life story for them all, nothing crazy or AU. Obviously theres gonna be bumps otherwise it'd be boring but I dont want a fic where they just have troubles I want them all to be happy sometimes and see the simple stuff, ok?
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson/Josie Saltzman
Comments: 27
Kudos: 258





	1. 1, A sunny day

**Author's Note:**

> Also in this house we don't hate Lizzie. So if you expect a hatefull unsupporting bitch this is not the place. Lizzie is a supportive sometimes irritating sister but she loves Josie and is not the despicable 'broken' twin as some portray her. They have their arguments as siblings do but no "oh my god my sister is a mean bitch that is hateful towards everyone even her twin and tries to fucking attack her", nonono. Good? good.  
> they get along jesus christ

Upon opening her eyes, she was met with her familiar dorm room, bathed in a warm light, coming in through the window. Coming from inside the room were the soft sounds of her sisters slow and steady breaths. It was apparent she was still asleep and although Josie didn’t want to disturb her twin when she was sleeping peacefully like this, she knew she had to wake her sooner than later, otherwise they would miss breakfast and Lizzie would be in a mood. 

But the girl allowed herself a few more minutes. Putting her arm over her eyes, she felt content, laying still. Her first coherent thoughts of the day drifted to Hope. It wasn’t uncommon for Josie to think about the other girl. Lately, even if they haven’t really been friends for a long time, the brunette was often worried about the tribrid, most powerful creature or not.  
She would never even come close to comprehending or even understanding, what she had been through.  
And lately they have been getting into more and more trouble, making her more and more worried something bad might happen, even if she knows Hope was more than capable of defending herself.

In fact Josie didn’t want anything to happen to any of the people around her. Also, and she was reluctant to go as far as to say this, but she felt like her and Hope were close to maybe becoming friends again.  
After all they were all spending more and more time together considering the constant threats they had to deal with these days.

A quick glance at her alarm clock made evident, that she had to get up and even harder to do: get her sister to get up.  
Still, even after her thoughts kind of wandered a little, she was in a good mood. The brunette got up without a groan or sigh, but rather with a little enthusiasm in her movements and walked over to the second bed quietly. She rested her hand on Lizzies shoulder and half whispered  
“Lizzie we have to get up. I don’t think you want to miss breakfast and we already slept in a little.”

The blonde moved slowly, but turned towards her sister while rubbing her face in a desperate attempt to wake herself up. One eye open, she looked at her clock.  
“Damn you’re right Jo. You go use the bathroom first, I need another second.”

“Fine by me, but if I come back to find you fell asleep again, I’ll be a little more persuasive in my methods of getting you out of bed, you hear me?”, Josie chuckled while walking over to the bathroom.  
She got ready fairly quickly, deciding to take her shower later. When she came out of the bathroom she found Lizzie to be awake and waited for her while she got ready too.

It didn’t take too long and they made their way downstairs, arms linked.  
Josie loved this morning and she could sense her sister was in a good mood as well, which only made her smile more. “So I see you’re in a happy mood as well today, huh? Specific reason?”

“Not really Jo. It’s just a nice day out. I don’t know just feel good. You?”

“Nah, the same. The sunshine really makes me want to do something nice, you want to go to the lake later?”

Cocking her head a little, Lizzie thought for a second before answering “Sure I mean it’s a Saturday and so far no monster to deal with, right? I’m down, should we ask the others?”

Already thinking of sitting in the sun by the water with her friends, Josie smiled and nodded her head. “I’m sure they’re still eating breakfast, so let’s ask them right now.”

After grabbing some food they quickly found the table their friends were seated at. Sitting down Lizzie dove right into it and told them about their plans for the day.  
Kaleb was immediately on board, as were Rafael and Landon. MG was a little hesitant at first.

“Yo I mean it sounds fun, but I’ve been avoiding this one homework I still have to finish for literature.” He said shrugging his shoulders. Lizzie already had the puppy face on, determined to get him to come too.

Josie smiled at MG “How about you come with us and tomorrow I’ll help you with your homework, ok?”

Thinking about it for a second, lowered his gaze before looking up again with a smile on his face.  
“Sound good, thanks Josie, really.”

Everybodys mood got even better after that, the anticipation of some much needed fun and hanging out time, making them excited. They decided to give everyone some time to get ready and get some stuff they want to take, then later meet up at the stone table in the garden.

The twins finished their breakfast a little faster than usual after their friends had left. Quickly they made their way back to their room to change. Josie decided to wear her bikini under her outfit, just in case. It was a darker blue which worked well with the light yellow dress with differently coloured, little flowers on it, that stopped mid-thigh and showed her bikini straps a little at her shoulders.  
She watched Lizzie get dressed in a lilac shirt with some jeans shorts. Her sister had also chosen to wear her bikini underneath her clothing.

“Lizzie what shoes do you think I should put on?” she asked looking at her reflection in the mirror.  
Looking up and mustering her dress Lizzie answered “I think your white chucks would look cute. That’s a nice dress Jo, where’d you get it again?” before looking at her phone. “By the way, MG’s in the kitchen and asks what he should bring to eat.”

“Thanks, mom picked it out for me remember? Last time we went shopping. Also tell MG we’ll meet him in the kitchen and decide then. “, Josie answered while struggling to put her shoes on.  
“Got it” the blonde murmured still looking at her phone. She lifted her head to smile at her twin. “Josie this is gonna be great. I’m so excited to just hang around and enjoy the weather for once, without constantly worrying about something.”  
She furrowed her brows a little before continuing “Well not that there’s nothing going on, but you know, just nothing so urgent and quite so life threatening that our super-squad would need to be assembled, right?”

Smiling warmly back at her sister the brunette said “Right. Let’s go meet MG.”

And just like earlier, they walked down the corridors arm in arm, a slight skip in their step.


	2. 2 blue like water

As they walked through the halls Josie saw a familiar figure walking towards them from the left and she got an idea. Not thinking about it too much she had haltered and told her twin, who had already walked on, to their right towards the kitchen, to go ahead, she would catch up. Lizzie just shrugged and lazily strolled on.

The brunette walked towards the auburn haired girl and upon coming closer realized, she was still in her gym clothes, apparently still sweaty from her previous workout. Hearing the steps heading for her determinedly, Hope looked up to see Josie approaching her, a soft smile on her lips.

When she reached her she stood in front of the slightly shorter girl, forgetting what she wanted to ask, for a moment.

“Uhm hi?” Hope said unsure, since the other girl had stopped directly in front of her, obviously wanting something.

“Hi Hope.” Josie responded softly. “I just wanted to tell you, since you weren’t at breakfast. Some of us are heading to the lake to enjoy this as of yet monster free day.” she chuckled unsure. “I just saw you and thought I’d tell you. You know in case you wanna join?” It was more of a question.

Like a puppy trying to decipher what they’re being told, Hope angles her head slightly before answering “I don’t know Josie. I just had training with your dad and I’m kind of tired. Also, someone should probably still keep an eye out you know? In case anything turns up. Don’t wait for me. Thanks though.”

The brunette nods understandingly “Oh okay. Well if you change your mind you’ll find us by the rocks.” And as she walks away, towards the direction her sister headed she turns around “You know you deserve a break too. The weather is great and I’m sure if a monster comes you’ll be the first to know.” With that she jogged away, catching up with her sister a few corners later.

Coming to the end of the stairs, the kitchens door frame was already in sight. Holding on to the left side of the frame, Josie swung into the room, her sister following closely behind her. MG’s back was visible, standing in front of lot of food options.

“So what do we have here?”

As if startled, MG turns his head towards the girls, a thoughtful expression on his face. “I just don’t know what to choose!” He said gesturing his arms over all the food.

Lizzie on the other hand, despite having practically just had breakfast, was quick to decide. “Okay so I say: Sodas, Iced Tea, Lemonade, those sandwiches, fruits and the chocolate. Not to forget the croissants and leftovers from breakfast.” 

Josie threw her a slightly amused, disapproving look. MG looked at the brunette. “See! I don’t know either!”

“Lizzie we can’t take all that. I say we grab the Iced Tea, maybe Lemonade, some cups and mostly the fruit. If you want you can take the chocolate, but keep in mind we all had breakfast not too long ago. We don’t need that much really.”  
The other two looked at each other and nodded, happy someone took the choice out of their hands. 

Using his superspeed, MG packed the stuff up Josie listed and put the other food back. And just like that they were out the door, on their way to the stone tables in the part of the garden where the youngsters usually worked.  
Walking in comfortable silence and enjoying the air, they soon saw Landon and Rafael already sat at the table, chatting away. When they reached the table they gave small waves and Lizzie gaze lingered a moment too long on Rafael.

No one but Josie noticed. She knew her sister still had a bit of a crush on Rafael, even after he rejected her. They didn’t really talk about it, because that meant Lizzie would want to talk about Penelope, and Josie avoided talking about her ex as much as possible. Truth was she didn’t really have any true feelings for the girl anymore other than nostalgic ones. And her ongoing teasing and meddling made it hard to get her out of her head entirely. Josie was getting there though. She wasn’t sad about their break up anymore and other than the times they would directly talk, she didn’t think of the dark haired girl much anymore. 

“Where’s Kaleb?” asked MG.

As if on cue the Vampire appeared right next to him. “Ready?” he asked enthusiastically.

MG jumped theatrically. “Bro you scared the shit out of me, don’t do that!”

“Sorry bro.” Kaleb shrugged his shoulders, but had a small grin on his face.

Rafael got up and took Lizzies bag with the fruit, carrying it for her. She smiled at him and he gave a friendly smile back. After that, he joined Landon at the front, continuing their conversation from before. The others walked behind them, talking about the recent monsters they had dealt with.

When they reached the rocks, the boys were practically buzzing with excitement. Even Rafael couldn’t hide his anticipation to get into the water. MG, Kaleb and him were in the water within a blink of an, leaving the bags between their clothes on a rock that was already a little warm from the sun.   
Landon on the other hand put down a blanket he had brought and took the food and drinks from out of the bags. While he and Josie stayed in their clothes, Lizzie dressed down to her bikini, but sat down with them first anyways.  
Raf shouted from out of the water “Come on Landon! The Water is nice and cool!”  
The curly haired boy shouted slightly quieter “I know, that’s why I’m waiting for a moment.”  
He looked at the girls “Kinda wanna warm up in the sun a bit, you know?" Josie just nodded and turned her face towards the sun, soaking it in. 

Landon took out some cups and poured them all a bit of Iced Tea. Murmuring a quick thanks they took their glasses and drank, sitting in silence for some time. The others boys’ shouts were audible from the water. They were splashing at each other, when Lizzie and Landon decided to join them.

“I’m gonna sit a little bit longer.” Josie told her sister, who gave her a questioning look. She nodded and walked off towards the water. Their similarly pale skin was very visible even from a distance in the bright blue water, reflecting the sky.

The brunette took it all in for a moment. Sometimes she wished she could draw what she sees, when she sees something beautiful, like the sky or the clouds. But sadly, painting wasn’t one of her strong suits. She had tried. She didn’t dwell on it though.  
Letting her thoughts drift, she closed her eyes again, turning her face towards the sun and just listening.

That is until she heard steps, approaching from behind her. Opening only one eye due to the brightness, she turned to look behind her and saw Hope, a shy smile on her lips.  
Her hair was still damp from showering and her eyes seemed a more intense blue than ever, the bright blue from the sky mirroring them.

Josie gave her a big smile and patted on the blanket next to her, motioning for the Tribrid to sit down next to her. “Hi” she said again after Hope sat down in the other corner of the blanket to her left. 

“We already said hi earlier”, the other girl chuckled.

“Well then Hi again.” laughed the brunette. “What made you change you mind?”  
“I guess you convinced me.” Content Josie smiled to herself and offered Hope some lemonade and fruit. 

They were sharing some melon, laughing at their friends in the water, when Josies thoughts drifted. She was afraid the other might not have wanted to come because of Landon. Despite them being friendly after their recent breakup, sometimes she wondered if it was uncomfortable for Hope. The Tribrid had broken up with the dark haired boy after he had disappeared with Rafael. It wasn’t a bad break up though it seems. Hope just argued she had a lot to take care of at the moment and tons of responsibility and she didn’t want to really deal with a relationship right now. She admitted she had cared for the boy, but trusting didn’t come easy to her and especially not in times like these, where she had other shit to focus on. Landon also did, although his fault in this matter can be debated on, break her trust.   
It seemed in the past now though and none of them seemed too upset by the break up. They were friends now, concluded Josie.

When she shifted her gaze to look at Hope, she was met with blue eyes. “Your dress is really pretty.”

“Oh thanks Hope.” she blushed a little. Just now did the witch pay attention to what the other girl was wearing. It was a dark red V-neck, a colour which suited Hope especially well, with black shorts that were slightly ripped and worn off. It looked good and you could see the black bikini strap, tied behind her neck.

It was getting kind of warm on the rock under the sun. Josie reached up to put her hair in a ponytail, but realized she had no hair tie on her wrist like usual. Turning to the other girl again she spoke clearly, to stir the Tribrid out of her thoughts.  
“Sorry, do you have a hair tie, I could borrow? I forgot mine.” Nodding Hope took one out of her pocket and gave it to her. “Thanks” 

“ ‘Course”

Josie put her hair up, catching some loose strands, leaving some purposely. When she gave the auburn haired girl another smile, she noticed her gaze was lingering on her neck, after having watched her. She quickly noticed and smiled back. Josie would have thought she saw just the tiniest blush had Hope not even a second later gotten up, disregarded her clothing and jumped from the highest rock right to were the others were still having a water fight.

Not feeling like taking a swim, the witch was content watching the others for a while, until they came out to dry of and eat some of the fruit.   
Lucky for her, as soon as the Tribrid had gotten out she had put her shirt back on, saving her from staring too much, which she later would have found embarrassing. The glimpse of her incredibly toned body had already been enough to make Josie blush like crazy. 

Hopefully Hope hadn’t noticed.

But what Josie didn’t notice was the confident smirk the other girl wore. For some reason knowing it made the witch so flustered to see her body, made her feel really cocky.  
And she laughed a little bit louder joking with the others, her eyes shifting to Josie from time to time.


	3. 3 work in pairs

Few days later and, weirdly, no new monsters appeared. Josie enjoyed the break from the constant worrying und saving people. Still, it was sort of unsettling. Josie wondered if that was because she actually wondered about their absence, or if it was the fact that she noticed Hope seemed more on edge everyday no new ones showed up.

It was rubbing off on her. Sitting in class absentmindedly, she was still taking notes, when Dorian spoke up more loudly.

“Okay guys, in face of our current situation with different monsters, which no one thought existed, I’ve thought of a new project you guys will do in pairs. Each pair will choose a creature and present what characteristics they have, how they could appear in our World and basically anything you can find out about them to the class. Obviously no creatures we’ve fought before, ok?”

Some idiot wolf shouted from the back “Does there have to be more than one? Does a Tribrid count then? With a little…material from the source I’d make a great presentation on Hope.” He ended with a stupid grin.

Hope only rolled her eyes and Dorian wasn’t even sure how to answer something dumb to this extent, when Josie couldn’t hold back.

“Jesus Bret that doesn’t even make any fucking sense, were you always this stupid or are you still suffering from a concussion Jed gave you?” she snapped, more malice in her voice than she expected.

The whole class bellowed and the grin was wiped from his face when he looked down on his desk.

“I’m just gonna ignore what just happened and carry on. No existing creatures please.” Dorian continued, giving Bret a sharp look. “The bell is about to ring so you guys choose your partners till next lesson and then we’ll talk more.” And just like that the bell rang. Josie was just packing up, Lizzie was already done before the bell, when she noticed someone was standing in front of her desk.  
  
She looked up to see Hope standing there, an unreadable expression on her face.

Unsure what the girl wanted Josie gave her an unsure smile “Hi?”

“Hey, uhm…I was wondering, would you want to be my partner for this?” She spoke calmly, and Josie noted subconsciously how good the girl looked in their school uniform, with her collar slightly undone at the top.

For some reason Josie was not expecting this. Thinking for a moment she realized, this would be perfect to spend some time with the other girl, and maybe bring them closer again. But Lizzie and she always partnered up. When the brunette looked to her side she could already see her sister sending her a look.

A little disappointed she shook her head slightly while answering “Sorry Hope, Lizzie and I usually do this stuff together.”

The other girl nodded, and gave an understanding, tight lipped smile, before leaving.

“That was kind of weird.” Lizzie said on their way to their next class. Josie thought about this for a second. Hope had seemed kind of tense. Deciding not to think about it too much she started talking to her sister about what creature they should choose.

After some rather unuseful suggestions like the talking rabbit from “Alice’ Wonderland” or Slenderman, the blonde groaned loudly “Honestly I don’t care we could take Spiderman for all I care!”

Chuckling slightly, Josie decided she would just choose herself and then they would do the project together.

\---------------

“Josie we can’t do the project together.” Visibly confused, the brunette looked up from her lunch at her sisters’ energetic voice. “MG keept bugging me about how we could do this monster from one of his comics and about how he already had all these ideas, and I didn’t have the heart to tell him no. Sorry, Jo, I hope that’s okay?”

It took Josie a second to respond. It would be easy to be kind of pissed about this, especially since she had already rejected Hope because of LIzzie, but she realized that she didn’t actually mind that much, if she had to do it with someone else, so it was unnecessary.

“Uhm yeah Lizzie, that’s fine. I’m sure I’ll find someone else.” She answered, giving a reassuring smile, to show that she wasn’t mad.

“Cool thanks. Why don’t you ask Hope again, she seemed eager.” And with that her twin had gotten up “See you later? MG wanted to meet right after lunch to show me this comic.”

“Yeah we’re still watching that movie later right?” as her sister was already walking away slowly

“ Course, later!”

Pinching the bridge of her nose the brunette gave a quiet sigh. For some reason she was somewhat irritated today and was developing a headache. The last schooldays were pumped to the brim with new learning material, as all teachers used the opportunity of not having to deal with some kind of chaos to their advantage. Josie was already more than ready for the weekend, and thought of the movie night with her sister tonight in anticipation. She needed to wind down a little.

When the Siphoner had gotten up and put her food tray away, she turned around in search of a certain someone, hoping the Tribrid hadn’t already found a different partner. Instead she was met with an all too familiar face she really didn’t have the mental capacity to talk to right now.

“Hey, Jojo. Wanna do Dorians project together?” Penelope asked with an innocent smile.

Now Josie had two options. She could say yes now and just do the project with her ex. Considering she really didn’t want to do that, she wasn’t really sure she preferred her second option either, which was saying no now, asking Hope and in case Hope already had a partner, having to come back to Penelope, who would no doubt be smug about it.

As she looked over the dark haired girls shoulder she noticed Hope, sitting alone at a table, still eating her lunch. Considering for a moment Josie decided that she would rather take the risk.

“Sorry Penelope, I already have a partner.” And not waiting for a response, she walked past the witch and over to the Tribrid.

Hope, who had already heard her coming turned slightly towards her and gave her a genuine smile. They seemed to be smiling at each other a lot lately, and Josies mood seemed to immediately lighten.

She sat down opposite the auburn haired girl, whose blue eyes following her movements.

“Hey Hope, I was wondering if you already found another partner? MG kind of persuaded mine and now Lizzie dumped me.” Realizing how that made it sound like she was just choosing Hope as backup and judging by the other girls face, she was quick to apologize. “No that came out wrong, I didn’t mean for it to sound like that.” and more to herself “Why the fuck did I say that?”

When she heard Hopes amused chuckle though, she relaxed a bit. “Well actually, I would have said yes earlier, but you know, Lizzie was already giving me the look, and like I said we usually do this stuff together. I would really like to do it with you though, Hope, so yeah.”

Sorting through her food the Tribrid answered without looking up. “Sure, I didn’t ask anyone else yet. It’s fine really, I get it.” After which she put a ridiculously big bite of food in her mouth and looked up at Josie, who burst out in laughter.

The other girl joined in after she swallowed. “Sorry.”, she apologized sheepishly and for a moment they just grinned at each other. “Hey why’d you defend me in class earlier?”

Not understanding what Hope was getting at, Josie gave her a questioning look. “You know? Bret?”

“Oh that. Well I wasn’t really defending you I think, no offense. It was a stupid comment and I was a little irritable I guess. I know you can defend yourself well enough, so it wasn’t really that. Still it bothered me, how he was talking about you, so maybe I was? I’m not sure.” The witch responded honestly “Also, I’m just tired of the comments people make when you’re in the room. Don’t you find it annoying?”

Blue eyes were looking fondly into brown ones. “I don’t really care anymore. It’s childish and you’re right, quite tiring so I stopped responding. Thanks for standing up for me though, kind of.”

“Sure”, another smile.

“I have to be at the docks in a few, your dad put some more training sessions in my schedule.” the tribrid said with a raised brow and a shrug. “We can both just make a list of a few suggestions for the project and then choose one. I’ll text you.” And she got up.

Josie followed suit “Yeah uhm I noticed, he’s been kind of tense, as have you. Does it have to do with the fact that no new monsters are showing up? Is that why he’s making you train more?”

Without stopping Hope answered “Josie you don’t have to worry about me okay? Your dad is fine too we’re just a little on edge, since we don’t know what we’ll have to deal with next. The waiting without knowing kind of sucks, you know?”

Searching her face for any kind of sign the girl might in fact not be fine, the brunette spoke reluctantly. “Okay, but if you need a break and my dad is working you too hard, you tell me and I’ll speak to him, yeah? He sometimes gets a little too focused.”

Now stopping Hope turned to her “Josie really, it’s fine. I’m a tribrid remember? I never get tired.” she said with a wink. Unconvinced the other girl nodded and watched as she walked of.

Luckily she had no other classes for the day, so she decided to go to the library, quickly do her homework and hang out in her room until Lizzie would come back.

\-----------------

The rhythmic clanking of their sticks resounded over the water, only being broken for mere moments, when their positions changed. The movements were familiar and came naturally without thinking. Hope was mostly on the defensive today, having other thoughts occupying her mind. Alaric’ desperate attempts at using this to his advantage and finding an opening failed still. The tribrid was too fast, and knew his fighting too well. The girl could end this rhythm anytime she wanted, was it not for the fact she was entertaining a certain thought. She didn’t want to concentrate on her movements any more than now before she had finished following that thread. Lately her feelings have been all over the place and she wasn’t sure about lots of things.

In between the clangs she spoke.

“So we have this new assignment Dorian gave us, about creatures that could possibly exist, but were erased because of Malivore.”

Seemingly very focused on his own movements, Alaric only grunted in response. Easily parrying another attempt Hope continued “I’m doing it with Josie.”

This caused him to raise an eyebrow, but didn’t stop his movements “Okay. Good. And?”

They moved circling each other, slightly resembling a Waltz. Hope always averted his attacks, but never backed away. “I was wondering if you had any advice? What kind of books or movies she liked when she was younger, that we coud use. I thought it would make her happy if I thought of something she already likes and knows about.” This for some reason threw Alaric off and he haltered, Hope, knowing he was becoming tired anyway, used this as her opportunity and, with a well placed blow to the ribs, knocked her head master to the ground. The Tribrid immediately offered him a hand to help him up.

“Well.” He answered thoughtful “l’m sure I can think of some. Why don’t you come by my office after we freshened up a bit and I’ll give you a few suggestions.” Looking at her expression, it seemed he was searching for something specific. “Any reason you’re giving this so much thought?”

She looked at him with a confused expression. “No, what are you talking about?” He just shrugged, looking over the water. “I think we’re done for today. Good session Hope.” And he gave her arm a friendly slap.

Laughing loudly she slapped him back “I think you’re done for today, old man.” Chuckling Alaric gave the girl a warning finger, and they made their way back to the school.

Hope, lost in thought, let her gaze drift to the water too, and she spotted the rocks, where her and her friends had hung out a few days earlier. And she thought about the way she felt a little less worried about everything whenever she spent time with Josie, a soft smile tugging at her lips.


	4. 4 choosing a topic

Her slender fingers hovered over her phone, unsure of what she should write. This shouldn’t be so hard, she thought. It was a simple text message, what was she so worried about. The quiet tapping of her fingers was heard in the room. She read over it. *Hey Josie, I’ve got some ideas for our project. We should meet.* Shaking her head she deleted the last part. That sounded so weirdly formal. *Meet me.* She sighed loudly. That was strangely demanding.

“This is ridiculous.” Hope thought to herself. “I’ve never taken so long to text someone.” She changed the last part to *You got time later?* and send the message before she thought about it too long. Putting her phone down, she looked at the list Dr. Saltzman had given her. He had written down some classic fairy tales, with monsters like dragons, which weren’t of much use. Some creatures were good though, like Giants, centaurs or Yokai.

Her phone vibrated next to her and she unlocked it to see who had texted her. It was Josie

*Oh good! Come to our table at lunch and we can decide on one.* Hope smiled down at her phone.

*Ok see you at lunch* she hesitated before sending it. Putting a heart at the end would be too much, wouldn’t it? She shook her head and hit send.

She checked the time and realized she only had about 20min left before her free period ended and she had her next class. The last class before lunch. Quickly she grabbed her laptop to research some of the creatures. Especially Yokai were a subject Hope didn’t know anything about and if she didn’t want to completely embarrass herself in front of Josie, who obviously knew about all of these creatures, she had to do some research.

\-------------

Lunch rolled around and Josie strolled to the cafeteria with her sister and MG. The two were talking animatedly about something, but honestly Josie wasn’t really listening. She only had a very short, uncreative list. She hadn’t had much time, and wrote down whatever came to mind after she had gotten Hopes text. She figured it was better than nothing and she could always choose something from Hopes list anyway. Still she felt kind of bad.

As soon as they walked through the doors her eyes searched for the familiar girl. But it seemed Hope wasn’t there yet, so Josie got food with the others and they sat down. Only a few short minutes later, which seemed like forever to the brunette witch, Hope approached from behind. She gave a soft “Hi" to everyone at the table and sat down to Josies right. While the other just nodded Josie gave her a soft smile and halted from stabbing her salad with her fork. She pulled out her list and put it on the table, shooting the other girl an apologetic look.

“I’ll be honest. My list is shit. I couldn’t think of anything.” She thought she noticed a slightly panicked look on Hopes face, but it was gone as fast as it had come.

The Tribrid rubbed her neck, as if she was uncomfortable all of a sudden. “Well, then my list might seem embarrassingly excessive.” As she pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket and unfolded it.

Josie eyes got bigger when she noticed the long list, which already had little notes. “Now I feel kind of bad.”

“Oh no, it’s fine honestly, I was on my laptop you know, so it wasn’t all my work.” Hope sure as hell would not tell Josie she had gone so far as asked her father for ideas. 

Crumbling up her paper Josie smiled at the other girl again. “We’ll just choose one from your list then. Can I?” she asked, reaching for the paper.

The Tribrid just nodded and focused on her food, while the other girl read through her notes.

When she noticed Josie had put it down again she started. “You know I liked the idea of talking about giants, but when I read more about the different kind of Yokai I found it way more interesting. Also, the others probably won’t think of it, so we don’t need to fight with anyone about who gets to do it, you know?”

Josie looked at her impressed. “Honestly yeah, any of these would be fine with me. I’m interested in Japanese stories anyway, so I already know a lot about different Yokai.”

Happy she had achieved exactly what she wanted to, Hopes smile grew a little bigger and she tried hard not to let her teeth show through. “Okay, so we’ll just have to choose one. I thought maybe Oni or Kitsune. Those are more generally known and we’ll have a lot to talk about.”

“Wow you really thought about this a lot already.” The slightly impressed look on Josies face is what caused Hope to break into a full teeth smile and she looked down, grinning. “I think we should do the Kitsune. When I was younger I would love reading stories about them, they’re fascinating. I can show you my favourite stories and tell you anything I know, I’m sure there’s a lot we can use for the presentation. Oh this is so cool, now I’m really excited.” The brunette squealed a little.

Very content with her efforts, Hope looked around, noticing the other people at the table for the first time really. Since she sat down, Rafael, Landon and Kaleb had joined them, and the group, except for her and Josie, participated in some kind of general discussion about how you would best defeat a Schrat, some kind of wood spirit MG knew about from one of his Witcher comics. The Tribrid and the Siphoner had been so focused on their own conversation they didn’t even notice the others. The auburn haired girl realized she enjoyed spending her lunch with her friends way more than sitting alone, always consumes by her thoughts. So she shuffled a little more towards the others to partake in the conversation and her bare leg bumped into Josies from time to time.

She could sense the other girls face close to her own and when she turned to look at her she was met with chocolate eyes looking directly into her own. For a fragment of a second her gaze shifted to Josies lips, and Hope briefly wondered if she would have noticed. And the brunettes soft voice met Hopes ears and all the other sounds where somewhere very far away again. “Lunch is almost over and I thought maybe we could start on the presentation today? You could come with me to our room after the next period and we could get started? I already have so many ideas.” She whispered, slightly leaning in.

The next period was their last and it also was Dorians class, so they could even confirm their topic. She nodded maybe a little too enthusiastic, but Josie didn’t seem to notice anyways.

“Great!” And just like that the bell rang, causing the Tribrid to look up, just catching the weird look Lizzie gave them both.

The three of them walked together, the twins’ arms linked as usual but Josie was turned to Hope, the whole way telling her about stories she had read about the Japanese fox demon, while the other girl listened intently, nodding now and again.

The class went by quite uneventful, they got the topic without any trouble and Dorian walked the class through the basics that had to be included in their presentations.

\---------

They were sitting comfortably on Josie’ bed and surprisingly the brunette witch was not nearly as nervous as she would have thought. Luckily she could focus on their project though, so that helped.

On the other hand, feeling the other girl weighing down her mattress, having her sit so close she could sense her made it hard for her to focus. Josie’ thoughts drifted to the Tribrid and how they were close before and how calm she would make her feel sometimes.

She knew Hope had her troubles, but she liked to think she knew what the other girl really was like. An empathetic one, who felt the responsibility of the world on her shoulders sometimes, but nonetheless would never let anyone down, whether they are her closest friends, or a stranger being wronged. Her sense of justice was a driving force for her and once she set her mind to something, there was no stopping her. Still Josie was sure she had never met someone else who feels as intensely as Hope and who was willing to feel everything. The devastating emptiness of losing someone you love, as well happiness in the simplest moments, even if she has to try very hard not to miss them sometimes.

She was all of a sudden really happy Lizzie had chosen to work with MG instead. She looked at the other girl, whose auburn hair covered a good portion of her face, as she was attentively reading a story about a Kitsune, which seduced men in the form of a beautiful woman. The witch was happy it was something familiar and nostalgic for her, since that only made her more enthusiastic about the whole project.

What was somewhat discouraging though, were Lizzies’ constant sighs and exclaims, when they tried to talk through what they were reading. The blonde had her headphones on and was watching something on her phone, clearly not caring if she disturbed the other two. If Hope was even nearly as annoyed as Josie by this, she didn’t let it show.

After a particularly loud groan from her twin, the brunette couldn’t take it anymore

“Lizzie please, we’re trying to work here.” she said, a little harsh maybe. Suddenly the room with the almost closed blinds seemed dark and suffocating. She caught a glance at Hope, who was looking up now seemingly unbothered, but a slightly pondering look on her face.

Lizzie also looked up directly into her sisters’ eyes and removed her headphones, plugging them out.

“There are public rooms for this, for a reason.” and continued to play her movie, the sound now coming through the speakers.

“Ugh!” Josie groaned annoyed, quickly getting from her bed, taking her notebook into one hand and grabbing Hopes with the other, dragging her up without warning. “You know what fine. We’re going to your room then.”

At this the other girl looked somewhat dumbfounded, but followed hesitantly. People usually didn’t come to Hopes room and she wasn’t sure she liked it. But Josie didn’t seem like she was keen on an objection and Hope wasn’t willing to fight her when she was this determined. She chuckled as the witch dragged her all the way to her room. If she was willing to make an exception, it would be for Josie, she thought.

Upon entering, the Tribrid watched the brunette’ expression change from an irritated frown, to a pleasant smile.

The room was neat. It’s wasn’t dirty or untidy, but rather organized except for some things here and there. Unlike her own room, Hopes blinds were completely open, as was one of her windows, letting Josie feel a pleasant breeze, with which her tension seemed to release. The only thing that could be considered messy was the little area where Hope clearly had her art supplies. There was even a painting on the scaffold, which seemed to have been made recently. Being automatically drawn to it the Siphon stepped closer and inspected it in awe. It was a simple painting of the sky, some treetops were visible on the bottom, but what made Josie catch her breath, were the clouds, which looked so real with their colours and shades, that Josie could have thought she was sitting outside.

This is exactly what she wished she could do, and although she was sort of envious, she was happy she found in Hope what she had wished for herself, but knew she couldn’t achieve.

“I knew you got the painting skills from you father, but I didn’t realize you were this good. This is incredible Hope I wish I’d know before.”

The auburn haired girl stood behind her with an unsure expression on her face, her bottom lip trapped between her teeth in a slight pout. “I don’t usually show anyone but I’m glad you like it.”

Josie looked around some more to see some little plants, a few family pictures and some small personal things, that all made the room feel light and homey. She felt very comfortable.

“Anyway let’s keep going.” The brunette stated excitedly and walked over to Hopes bed confidently sitting down and patting next to her, inviting her to sit on the bed, as if it wasn’t Hopes. With an amused smile the other girl sat down next to her. “So I was thinking. I’m pretty sure I still have a story book from when I was younger with a story about Kitsune in it. It had really pretty illustrations. I just need to find it and maybe we can include some of it in the presentation. How did you even get the idea? Are you interested in Japanese movies or something?”

Even though she was embarrassed to admit it, Hope had a weak moment and decided it would be better not to lie.

“Not really. I…uhm..I kind of might have asked your father if he had any idea what you might find interesting.” It took Josie a second to respond and a rattled expression settled on her face before she slightly shook her head to herself.

The fact that Hope thought about that just shows how considerate the Tribrid really was, even if she didn’t like to admit it sometimes.

So Josie put her hand on top of Hopes, squeezed slightly and whispered. “That’s really sweet.” and gave her a shy smile. The witch threw her notebook of the bed and pointed to Hopes laptop, taking her hand off again, and she was too distracted to notice that Hope looked just the littlest bit disappointed. “I know a good movie, including Kitsune. For today we have written down enough for the basis. This is a way we can take a break and still learn some stuff for our presentation.” She said tilting her head with a smirk.

Obviously Hope agreed, even if she was a little nervous. She positioned the laptop at the end of the bed, but they still had to lay close so they could both see. Hopes heart started beating so hard she was afraid she’d die the second her and Josies legs touched under the covers. Both girls were still wearing their skirts, considering they started working together immediately after class. She stopped breathing as the other girl snuggled into her hesitantly, lightly laying her head on Hopes shoulder.

You’d think the feeling would stop after a while, but it hadn’t even after Josie had fallen asleep shortly after the introduction, cuddling closer and closer, nor had it stopped when Hope had reached almost the end of the movie, not having moved and honestly not having payed attention to the movie even for a second as everything she could register were Josies light, rhythmic breaths hitting her skin, the smell of her honey shampoo and the feeling of her leg over her own as well as the weight of her head in the crook of her neck.

For Josie this probably wasn’t anything special, surely she was touchy with her friends, whereas all Hope could think over and over was “I’m fucked.”


	5. 5 time spent together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I know this ones a little short, but thats because its good to cut it were I did. Yall are lucky though because before writing this, lyrical genius that i am (not), wrote a later chapter which will be called "a vial of her blood" first, because it was the right time to write that portion and it just came well to me at the moment. So because I really want to post that one I will write and add the next chapters fast, since theres a little bit of a time gap i have to fill before I can post it. Obviously I'll still try to make them good this is still quality over quantity dont worry.

When Josie came back it was already late, she wasn’t sure if her sister would be awake. The witch blushed when she thought of the position she woke up in, but Hope had assured her that it was fine, so Josie wished her a good night sheepishly, before taking her notebook and leaving.

When she opened the door Lizzie looked up from a comic she had gotten from MG. “Well that was a ridiculously long study date.” She said before looking down at the pages again.

“We watched a movie and I fell asleep, that’s all.” Josie responded ignoring her sisters ‘date’ comment. The room was dimmly lit, but not as suffocating as when she had left.

Her sister took a dramatically sharp intake of breath “You mean to tell me you already cuddled with you cruuuush?”

“Lizzie I’m really tired, what are you talking about?” the brunette questioned, her fingers pressing the bridge of her nose.

“Oh come on you have a crush on Hope again, you can admit it.” The blonde answered with huge grin on her face. Putting the comic to the side entirely.

“I don’t. Have. A . Crush! I just feel like I could be friends with Hope again. We’ve all been getting closer lately, you too.”

“Yeah well not as close as you two.” Lizzie retorted with a wiggle of her eyebrows.

Josie realized this wouldn’t get her anywhere, so she just shook her head. Why didn’t her twin understand, that she simply took the opportunity to become friends with the Tribrid? Not everyone always had to get romantic.

“Whatever. I’m going to bed.” She stated, getting ready for bed, finally changing out of her uniform into her PJs. But lying in her own bed, Josie felt the phantom of a touch, she didn’t quite want to put her finger on.

From then on, Hope and Josie continued their project in Hopes room, whenever they had the time. The time spent on actually doing the presentation was very small though.

Admittedly they would start off with doing it, but someway somehow they would always drift elsewhere with their conversation. Josie would start talking about her childhood, telling Hope about all the books and movies she adored. Of games she would play with her sister and mother. Sometimes she would talk about her mother and how much she missed the days they could spend together simply, only worried about the fact that Lizzie had had one more cookie than her. Sometimes tears in her eyes, because she missed her mother so much. And Hope would understand the pain of missing a mother, even if she knew hers would never return. And Josie knew that even if Hope had suffered more loss than her, she would never belittle someone elses pain.

And after a while Hope felt comfortable enough to talk about her own childhood, except her eyes would never water as she reminisced. She talked about painting with her father and about how shortly after he disappeared and stopped any contact with her, so she only painted alone anymore.

She would talk about her mother, who was her hero, who had made her happy above everything else. And Josie would tell her how beautiful her mother was and how she knew she was compassionate, a life force in of herself and how she had felt how powerful she had been.

Hope would also talk about the good parts of Klaus Mikealson, especially the days he was there for her, shortly before he was gone again, this time for good.

They never actually talked about how they were gone though, and Josie never pushed.

  
Hope also quickly got comfortable with their physical closeness, the way she would tense up in the beginning disappearing fast.

And the big bad Tribrid would joke “You better not tell anyone, any of this, or my reputation goes to shit.” giggling with a genuine smile on her face.

Josie was also the one who started to play her ukulele for Hope, after they sat in silence for a while, and Hope just enjoyed hearing her play and not worrying about anything else.

Shortly after Josie felt brave enough to start singing while she played.

So she started to play the chords to “8” by Billie Eilish and she started to sing, her cheeks already a little red from her nervousness.

And the brunette tried her best to ignore the way Hopes head snapped up, her blue eyes widened with such an incredibly soft look on her face, as if Josie had just opened up the world to her. But Josies voice only wavered for a moment before she closed her eyes and continued singing.

When she finished she put her Ukulele down and smiled at Hope, undoubtably red in her face still, but she didn’t care too much anymore. Hope shifted her head on Josies leg to look at her once more, and played with her fingers in her own hand. Their time spent together had been filled more and more with such subtle touches, especially at lunch, where Hope had finally, after Josie made it a point of asking her for every meal, decided to sit at a table together with her friends.

“Josie I’m really happy we’re friends again. We’re friends aren’t we?”

And the brunette gave her a soft smile looking at their fingers “Yes, we are friends.”  
She sat up, to the Tribrids dismay causing her to pick up her head, and pointed to the empty canvas on Hopes scaffold. The Siphoner knew she had drawn more pictures since the first time she was in here for their project, but Hope was very delicate with her art, so Josie would usually just catch a glimpse at most, or, if the other girl was finished with one she particularly liked, she would show Josie, but only for a moment, and only, like, two times.

“You know I just sang in front of you, I feel like it is only fair you let me watch you draw sometime.”

And without arguing the auburn haired girl answered. “Fine” and shrugged.

“Really?” Josie asked excitedly.

“Yeah fine. We’ll go outside sometime, and you can watch me until you inevitably get bored.” she agreed with a chuckle, hiding the fact that the thought of the brunette watching her made her palms sweat from nervousness.

So Josie gave her a quick hug, before she got a text from Lizzie and made her way over to their room. Her twin was planning their birthday and wanted to confirm some stuff.

They, or rather Lizzie, had planned this huge party that was practically more like a ball anyways. It being only two days away, Josie was admittedly excited for this, almost as much as her twin.


	6. 6 my party and I'll cry if I want to

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im not sure but maybe trigger warning? Josies burried so yeah

Everything was planned so well. But still, everything went to shit pretty fast.

Of course, there hadn’t been another monster for days, almost weeks, only so it could appear on their birthday. Right on time. Of fucking course, thought Josie.

It started with her and Lizzie walking, arm in arm, to their dads office, wanting to confirm some things for the party, especially his or rather their plan for him to wear to a suit. Both girls were buzzing with excitement.

That’s when they stumbled across their bio mom, resurrected from the dead and with no recollection of how she had got there. The only logical explanation was a new monster. Talk about a buzzkill.

Both girls were admittedly rattled by the situation and even if Lizzie tried not to show it and focused on their party anyways, the whole thing put a bumper on Josies mood. She had always wondered what her mother had been like and what it would have been like to know her. Now she was there, right in front of her, she could even touch her, but still she had to be careful to not get too close, since obviously something wasn’t right.  
Her hopes of her dad being at the party vanished into thin air and their mother Caroline couldn’t even make time to come either. So half of their plans had already gone down the drain.

When she found Hopes present on her pillow though her mood lightened. The pendant was beautiful and exactly the right size and Josie must have read the note about ten times before she put it down again. Lizzie had already gone seeing as she was ready. The brunette still had to put on her dress and do her hair.

An idea she would later regret popped into her head. She made sure she had the pendant around her neck before she made her way down to her dads office. The young witch was still in desperate need of a pick me up and she hoped a talk to her bio mom could provide.

And it did. She had a nice chat with Jo and she found, although she was very different to her mom Caroline she would have liked having her in her life. She told her about her and Hopes friendship, which after years rekindled and Jo talked about her love for their father. All while she felt the womans slender fingers, softly combing through her hair and braiding it.

And then it all went to shit. Again. Lulled into a false sense of security she invited Jo to come to the party with her. About half way there though she turned around, the older womans eyes had turned completely and disturbingly white. That’s all she saw before she passed out.

And she didn’t see anything else until she was pulled out of the grave she had been buried in. Because even though she woke up, she immediately realized that she couldn’t move, couldn’t open her eyes, couldn’t feel anything but dirt around her, only heard muffled sounds and only could make muffled sounds, but worst of all, could barely breathe. She’s never felt such pure panic. Robbed of all her senses all she could really do was hope. Hope that someone found her, before it was too late.

She was already late and she wondered vaguely if Josie noticed. Thinking of the present she had left in the other girls’ room earlier Hope also wondered if the other girl had liked it. And she wondered if the brunette was disappointed, thinking she might not show up at all.

“Fuck man, I need to get out of here.” She grunted

“Calm down Hope, we can leave soon. Why are you so eager to get there anyway? It’s not like you’re a big party goer anyways.” Rafael asked, seemingly much calmer than her, even though he was the one with a date.

“Shut up Raf.” She was not joking. She would get back at Penelope for this, if only she could finally leave this stupid gym, she could not see either this room or the boy any longer or she would lose her mind. Not that she didn’t like Raf. He was just not the person she wanted to spend time with right now.

Her eyes followed the clock and even the last second seemed to last for forever, but as soon that second was over she was up and out of there.

She had already gotten ready earlier and she hoped she still looked ok, even after she just sat on the ground in it, for what felt like hours.

And then she was met with Alaric, who told her in sheer horror that she had to find Josie because she was buried somewhere. The Tribrids mind went into panic mode. She was gone before he could finish and frantically tried to get to the graveyard as fast as possible in her impractical dress.

When Penelope and MG addressed her she snapped at them and couldn’t even have formed the words to apologise, if she wanted. She was all over the place, but weirdly focused all at the same time. Her wolf hearing obviously was better than any humans, but still she was not able to make out where Josie was.

Her voice cut through the air like a sharp knife “MG listen harder.” Her heart already jumped out of her chest with relief when he went to the first grave. When instead a zombie jumped out, she got scared for the fragment of a second, before she felt an incredible anger fill her veins with adrenaline.

More and more zombies popped up and Penelope and MG defended themselves as best as possible, while she hacked down bodies left and right like a reaper on a murder spree. With every kill the tingling feeling of rage that fuelled her movements only increased.

Soon she could feel her teeth changing, her eyes had been burning with the bright amber colour since long. She saved Penelope a few times, who was fighting good but could barely keep up, while MG tried to focus on hearing a different sound than the growling of decaying bodies. She was about to yell something, when one of the dead who had gone unnoticed was able to actually throw a spear in Hopes direction. The Tribrid was able to dodge it in the last moment but it grazed her cheek as she caught it slightly behind her head. Turning and throwing it in a movement that wasn’t visible to the human eye she put a force behind it, that shred the Zombie to pieces on impact.

She was growling now, her teeth bare, canines frighteningly prominent. She yanked a head off to her right.

“Damn girl.” She heard the vampire boys voice, slightly impressed but mostly terrified.

“Damn it MG, get up and find her. If we find Josie unconscious your head will be the next I rip of” She roared at a volume she didn’t even know she could reach.

Now genuinely looking scared for his life MG tried focusing again, finally hearing Josies soft whimpers. He was by her side in a heartbeat and Hope was right behind him, still looking like she was about to transform.

They dug with their hands, MG using his superspeed, and Hopes appearance started to ease, turning into a worried and scared expression.

When Josies hand finally reached out the Trybrid looked like she was about to break into tears as she pulled the other girl up.

Gasping and struggling for breath the brunette clutched her chest with such a distraught look on her face the vampire almost started crying himself.

“The Talisman. It worked!” Hope exclaimed, feeling all the weight of the world fall off of her, she thought she never felt so relieved in her life. Josie was there, she was alive, and she was fine.

Catching a breath herself she took a moment to respond to the Siphoner who had asked, clutching it tightly “What’s it supposed to do?”

Hopes blue eyes searched for her brown ones and only saw the turmoil in them clear up a bit when their eyes met. “Make quiet things heard.”

She escorted Josie back to the dorms, basically carrying her most of the way. She went with her to her room, picked up some clothes and walked her to the showers. Seeing Josie like this was breaking her heart, but she had to be strong for her right now or she was afraid the other girl would fall apart.

She waited outside while Josie went to take a shower, fearing that if she left, the brunette disappear again. She was lost in thought about what had happened and she realized all her anger had evaporated and all she was left feeling was appreciation for the fact that Josie was still alive, was still there.

After a few minutes her werewolf ears picked up the younger girls soft voice, asking for her.  
She went inside, somewhat shielding her eyes. When she realized Josie was covered by the door except for her head that was poking out with an unreadable expression and her hand, in which she held her dress, she lowered her arm.

“It’s fine you don’t have to cover your eyes.” The brunettes’ weak voice was heard.

“I wasn’t sure, not exactly the best occasion to see you naked.” the Tribrid tried to joke with a wink. To her delight Josie gave her a light chuckle, but her eyes still looked tired.

“Yeah right. I just wanted to ask if you could get rid of this please? I don’t really want to see it anymore.” As she raised her arm with the dress.

“Ah yeah sure. I’ll just…” Hope took the dress “Be right back okay?”

The younger girl just nodded and disappeared behind the door again. Before leaving Hope looked around. She noticed all the fog from Josies hot shower, blurring the mirrors and under the LED lights of the light blue tiled bathroom, nothing seemed real. She couldn’t comprehend any of what had just happened. With a loud sigh she went out the door, quickly got rid of the dress in her room and hurried back.

The other girl was still under the shower, she judged from the water still running and she imagined Josie in a trancelike state under the water, tears getting mixed with the hot water streaming down her face and Hopes heart ached a little.

With unsure steps she walked back into the increasingly warm room.

“Josie?” When no answer came the Tribrid stopped in front of the Siphoners stall.

“Josie, are you okay?” she asked again heartfelt. If not for her enhanced ears she wouldn’t have heard the response.

“Can you hand me a towel please?” and her hand appeared again. So Hope handed her a towel and waited, as the water was turned off and shortly after Josie came out wrapped in her towel, her hair dripping.

The older girl took a second towel, slowly stepped closer to the brunette, carefully stroked her hair to the side while she put it around her shoulders, wringing her hair out softly and letting it fall back in its place. She stepped back just a little bit, Josie hadn’t moved at all.

She looked into her eyes sincerely, trying to read what was written in them.

“Josie?” she whispered softly and that was what caused the other girl to close the small distance again, burying her head in Hopes shoulder and letting out quiet sobs, while wrapping her arms tightly around her waist.

Without hesitation the auburn haired girl locked her arms around Josie, pulling her even closer. She was still in her heels so Hope could lay her cheek on Josies head as she took in the smell of her shampoo. She felt that was the only thing keeping her grounded right now, the only thing keeping her heart from shattering into little pieces at the younger girls’ shaking shoulders and soft sobs. “You’re okay.” She whispered, if more to herself or Josie, she wasn’t sure.

She din't know how long their hug lasted, but it felt like forever and like mere seconds at the same time.

Though Lizzie could be heard calling for her sister, causing them to break apart and go into the hallway.

“Oh Josie, I’m so sorry. I looked for you at the party a little bit, but I had no idea something so terrible was happening. When I finally found dad to tell him I was worried he told me what had happened and I wasn’t there and I’m so sorry…”, it bubbled out of the blonde as she almost violently hugged her sister who immediately hugged her back.

“It’s okay Lizzie. I’m okay.” She repeated what Hope had said. Both girls had tears in their eyes, as Alaric approached. The Tribrid was the first to notice and she realized she should probably go.

She turned to the brunette witch one last time “Josie, I’m gonna go look for MG. I think you guys have some stuff to talk about. If you need anything please tell me and I will be there, okay?” and after she received a nod she left.

And while Josie, who still wasn’t through with all the horrors of the day, was told she had to siphon Jo away, Hope searched for the vampire boy.

She found him in his room, having just changed into his PJs. As soon as he heard her he asked “Is Josie ok?”

“She took a shower and now she is talking to Dr. Saltzman and Lizzie. She will be okay, I think.” The Tribrid said reassuringly. MG just nodded in retuen.

“Hey listen MG…uhm…I searched for you to apologize. What I said back there…I…I don’t know what got into me, but it was horrible and I’m so sorry. I hope you know I didn’t mean any of it. I was losing my mind you know, but I was way too harsh.” She told him genuinely, hoping he would accept the apology.

He looked up at her, clearly thinking over the previous events. “Hey it’s okay. I get it you were scared. I didn’t take it personally, although, I gotta admit, I was scared for a second there.”

“I’m sorry.” She just repeated shamefully.

“But as soon as we found her you turned normal again, so I guess everything’s good.”

“Yeah I guess so. Still I didn’t mean to scare you or anything.”

“Yo I’m just glad you’re usually more in control of yourself, or else we’d all be fucked.” The boy joked. Hope just laughed halfheartedly.

“Sooo, that was what I came by for. I think we all better go to sleep, so I’ll check on Josie again and go to bed too. Good night MG.”

“Night Hope.”

She closed the door on the way out. When she reached the twins dorm room, more crying was audible from inside. Hope knocked softly before entering when she heard a quiet “Come in.”

She saw the two sisters on Josie bed, crying in each other arms, obviously both in need of some comfort. Josie had been crying the hardest, Hope could tell.

“What’s happened?” She just knew something else must have happened.

The brunette calmed down enough to answer “We siphoned Jo. She said it was the only way and we had to say goodbye, before we…we took her hands..and..” she broke off, tears streaming down her face.

Jesus they just coudln't cathc a fucking break. Hope walked over, softly wiping them away. “Can I do anything for you? For you both?”

“I don’t think so.” Lizzie said and sniffed. Josie got up and walked closer to the door, leading the older girl by her arm.

“Thank you Hope. For saving me obviously, but mostly for after. I really needed you then. But right now I don’t think there is anything for you to do. I think me and Lizzie just need some alone time right now. So you don’t need to stay or anything. I’d be happy if you came by tomorrow though. Maybe?” and even though she was still crying, the younger girl gave her a small smile.

“Of course. I’ll come check on you first thin. Please try to sleep a little bit though. I know it might be hard, but please try to get some rest, yeah?” her blue eyes searched the younger ones for affirmation.

“We’ll try.”

And with that Josie returned to the arms of her sister and Hope left for her own bed, still worried, but feeling slightly better knowing the sisters were comforting each other.  
She fought her way out of her dress, took a quick shower herself and fell on her bed exhausted in some sleep shorts and a big shirt she had from her uncle Kol.

And in the darkness of her room, she still saw Josies distraught face, she saw blood flashing everywhere. And in the stillness of her room she felt her skin buzzing with adrenalin. And in the silence of her room she heard Josies soft cries and her own low growls.

And with those thoughts fading together she fell asleep, physically and emotionally exhausted


	7. 7 a calming breeze

Josie wasn’t expecting to see Hope before classes ended. Her sister had gone to class, stating she needed the distraction. The brunette however couldn’t bring herself to go knowing she wouldn’t be paying attention anyways. So when the familiar face of the Tribrid appeared in her doorway after the first two classes, she was kind of surprised.

“I took today off.” the girl explained, seeing the questioning look Josie gave her.

“Why?”

“Uhm…I figured you wouldn’t feel like sitting in your room all day. So if we go outside now, no one but us will be there.” The Siphon smiled, knowing Hope had considered the fact that she didn’t feel like being around lots of people.

“Also I was really worried and I couldn’t stay away any longer.” The girl admitted sheepishly. Josies light chuckling filled the otherwise dark room.

“Is that so?” she said smiling widely. She felt better already. Because even though she knew staying in her room was the right choice, that didn’t mean it felt good being alone in a still room, where one couldn’t escape their thoughts.

“Yeah so, want to go for a walk?” the Tribrid asked hopeful.

“Very well, if you’ve missed me so much already, I won’t deny you my pleasant company any longer.” The younger witch joked. “That’s if you don’t mind my lack of conversation. I’m still all over the place to be honest.” She added seriously.

“Of course not.” And Hope smiled understandingly.

“Uhm, give me a minute I need to get dressed. You can sit down, I’ll be in the bathroom really quick.”

Admittedly, Josie had not gotten out of bed at all until now. So she grabbed a simple white shirt with her light blue jeans and disappeared into the bathroom. She brushed her teeth really quick, washed her face, brushed her hair and got dressed. When she looked at herself in the mirror, she was glad she looked not nearly as dishevelled as she felt, but rather nice actually. Shooting herself a slight smile, Josie turned around and left her bathroom.

Hope was sitting on her bed, waiting with a soft smile on her face and the younger girl noticed she had a picture in her hands. As she stepped closer she noticed it was one of her and her sister when they were younger, behind them stood Alaric and Caroline all genuinely laughing. It was a pretty picture of a happy memory that caused Josie to automatically smile.

When the Tribrid notice her, she put the frame down. “Ready?” after the Siphoner had put on her white converse.

She just nodded and they walked out the door. The younger girls was very grateful for the empty halls, as the only company she could stand right now was her sisters or Hopes.

As soon as they were outside, Josie shyly grabbed the other girls hand in an attempt to show her that she appreciated her company.

Hope turned to look at her, her light auburn hair shining a little more red, thanks to the sun. Her blue eyes seemed even lighter than usual, as a slight blush crept its way onto her cheeks. And Josie noted subconsciously how beautiful she looked.

They walked in silence, not letting go of each others hand until they reached the docks, where Hope had led them. This is where they broke apart, as the brunette stopped dumbfounded as the older girl took a few more steps turning to her with her arms widely spread and a huge smiled on her face that screamed ‘Surprise’.

On the dock stood her easel with a blank canvas, a little stool next to it where she had put down her painting supplies.

Slightly closer to them behind it was a huge blanket with lots of pillows and a little basket, which Josie assumed contained food and drinks.

At a loss for words, Josie just looked at the Tribrid, who went on explaining unbothered “I had a feeling you weren’t up for much talking. And even though I could, without a doubt, sit with you for hours in silence, I thought about what you had said earlier about wanting to watch me paint. I figured what better time. Maybe you appreciate the small distraction?”

Instead of answering the younger girl just walked up to Hope, looking directly at her with a shy smile and gave her a kiss on the cheek as she passed her and sat down on one of the pillows.

The Tribrid stood for a moment before she turned around and walked over to her easel. “Theres blueberry juice in there because I know you like it and also some strawberries and some other fruit, not to forget I made some sandwiches.”

“PB&J?” Josie asked. Hope turned to shoot her a look as if asking ‘Are you serious?’ before simply saying “Of course.”

And the she got to painting. The Siphoner breathed in deep for what felt like the first time since yesterdays events and she felt the air, that smelled of spring, around her, warm but pleasantly blowing cool breezes from time to time. She looked out at the lake, that was reflecting the bright blue sky and she felt calm.

Relishing in the sun and silence she watched Hope draw the shore on the other side with its tree line in light and dark greens, the sky above filled with soft clouds that already looked as realistic as the first painting of hers Josie had seen.

They stayed like that for a very long time, without saying a word, just Hope doing what she loved, painting and Josie doing what she recently started to love, watching Hope. After a while, when the green woods were finished, the Tribrid decided to take a break and sat down in front of the brunette, reaching in the basket and pulling out some sandwiches. That’s when she first spoke up, looking directly into Josies chocolate eyes. It was a simple but sincere question.

“Will you be okay?”

The young girl smiled in response. Right now she felt more than ok. She even felt happy. And even though she knew it would take some time to stop thinking about the way she couldn’t breathe, about the way she couldn’t move, feeling utterly trapped, she knew she would be ok. And she knew Hope would help her.

So she opted for a similarly simple but sincere answer. “Yes.”

“Good.” And with that the Tribrid started to basically inhale her sandwiches, while Josie started to tell her about the times she tried to draw, her soft voice blending with the quiet sounds of the lake, only for Hope to hear.

And when she finished, the older girl started telling her about the way she used to draw as a kid, but only started to really love it after she had met her father for the first time, who then taught her everything she knew. He also taught her to paint her emotions. So whenever she felt sad or angry, whenever she felt she couldn’t shoulder the weight of the world no more, whenever she felt extremely happy, she would paint.

Told her about the only time she didn’t, she couldn’t, after he was gone too. In fact she stopped painting all together then. And about how she had tried after a while, but it didn’t work, only hanging on to that part of herself thanks to the pictures she had painted before. Some she had painted with her father, some of her father. Some she had painted of her mother and some were entirely different. Still those paintings had kept her together.

And after a very long time, slowly but surely, she was able to paint again. The brunette witch listened attentively the whole time Hope was talking, who then admitted that Josie inspired her to paint even more lately.

Hearing her say that made the younger witch suddenly burst with happiness and she smiled broadly as she laid her head in the Tribrids lap. “That makes me happy.”

“You make me happy.” And her blue eyes looked down at her as she ran her hand through Josies hair.

They stayed like that for a few moments, before the older girl snapped her fingers, making a ukulele appear. Without saying anything she handed it to her and proceeded stroking her hair, as the brunette started strumming it lightly. She didn’t sing this time, content with the simple sound of the different chords.

After a while of listening to her play the strumming stopped and was replaced with soft sighs, as the brunette was starting to drift off. The Tribrid just smiled, knowing the other girl hadn’t slept much the night before. Still there was something she wanted to talk about.

Hope was about to say something when she was interrupted. “Hey Josie can I tell you some…” was as far as she got before Rafael came running, clearly distraught.

“Hope? Hope you have to hurry. Cassie showed up and Alaric told me he found the monster that resurrected Josies mom.” Only after that exclamation did he notice Josie, who shortly before his arrival was still laying in Hopes lap peacefully on the verge of falling asleep, but was then brutally awoken by Rafaels loud voice.

Hope, her hand still in the air where JOsies head had been, looked at him, looked at the brunette who had shot up , looked up at Rafael again with an annoyed expression and then proceeded to snap her fingers, causing the easel including the canvas and her painting stool behind her to disappear.

Rolling her eyes, she sighed loudly “Great timing.”

She apologized to the younger witch “I’m sorry Josie but I think I have to go.”

The brunette, still in the process of waking up, just mumbled confused “Uh yes of course, wait I’ll walk back to school with you guys. What about this stuff?” as she began to fold the blankets.

“No Josie don’t worry, I’ll get that stuff later. Let’s just go.”

And with a shrug of her shoulders, Josie followed the other two back to school.

Rafael was obviously all over the place and considering his dead girlfriend appeared in his new school for supernatural that made sense. Still, everyone being consumed by their own thoughts, they didn’t talk the whole way back and the girls, sensing he wasn’t ready to talk about it, didn’t ask any questions.

When they arrived, Josie and Hope exchanged quick goodbyes, before the Tribrid followed her friend.

The brunette decided to go back to her room so see if Lizzie was there, and realized that even though she was sad her day with Hope had been cut short, she felt a lot better after having spent time with her. Although she had to admit, she was curious what the other had wanted to tell her, before Rafael showed up. Yeah she had been half asleep, but she still remembered Hope wanting to tell her something. Shaking her head Josie made a mental note to ask her about it later.

Right now she just hoped the other girl wouldn’t get herself into any trouble.


	8. 8 talk to me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> also possibly trigger warning. Deals with Hopes loss so yeah

And the next thing Josie knew, was that Hope didn’t feel like talking. Didn’t feel like smiling. Didn’t feel like painting.

After Hope went to help Rafael and Alaric, she didn’t hear from her for a while. She was worried, but this wasn’t uncommon when monsters were around. It also wasn’t like anyone was telling Josie what was going on, not even her own father.

So when the Tribrid was back and barely looked at her, it was obvious something had happened. And when she didn’t tell her what happened, Josie didn’t press because she thought Hope would have to tell her at some point.

But after a while she realized that was not going to happen. And Josie felt the other girl slipping away, and she feared what was to come. She was afraid Hope would go back to shutting everyone out.

They still spent time together, the last thing showing the Siphoner that Hope still cared was the fact that she wanted to comfort her when she struggled with her memories of being buried alive.

It was a weird thing really. She never had any problems falling asleep like she thought she would. It would have made sense, if her dreams were filled with dirt, darkness and a struggle for breath, leaving her to think she was still in her grave when she awoke in the darkness of her room.

But that was never the case. Instead she would suddenly feel the slow suffocation at random times throughout the day. The young witch would drift into trancelike states, recalling the events,reliving the turmoil, when she sat in class or the library, only coming to when the bell rang, not having any recollection of what happened in between.

Sometimes, when she glanced at the picture of Jo, she would see her, coming towards her with that sickeningly evil expression and her eyes, so empty it send a chill down Josies spine.

But when she looked at Hope she’d see her, red dress matching her red lipstick, pulling her up to the air, and she would recall the feeling of instant relief and the knowledge, that she was going to be okay, because Hope saved her life.

The Tribrid knew that she calmed the other girl, so they would sit together, but they wouldn’t talk and it wasn’t their usual comfortable silence. So Josie started to worry more and more, until she was so focused on the other girls problems, she completely forgot about her own.

Later she tried asking the older girl what had happened. She was immediately shut down.

So then, she tried asking her father, who got unreasonably upset and shut her down also.

“I don’t know what to do anymore. I’m afraid Hope is slipping away and I don’t know what I can do to stop it from happening. I don’t even know how I can make her feel better.” She confided in her sister, who cuddled her after the brunette had come back, visibly upset.

“And dad won’t talk to me. He’s clearly having secrets and it’s ruining every chance for me to do something. Also he got really angry after I mentioned Hope, so I’m guessing she did something bad, maybe? I don’t know.”

Lizzie stroked her head lightly, and Josie couldn’t help but wish it was Hopes hand instead.

“Hmm, I’m not sure either. But I talked to Rafael and he told me, the reason Jo and Cassie were resurrected, was because of some sort of Necromancer? It seems Hope did something dad didn’t want her to do and it got her into trouble. Rafael didn’t know any more but he told me MG was involved too. Maybe you should ask him what happened.” The blonde suggested.

Josie immediately shot up, yelled a thank you after giving her twin a kiss on the cheek and disappeared out the door to find the vampire boy.

She soon found him in the library. When the girl approached him, he didn’t notice her until she was sat right in front of him.

“Hey MG. Can I talk to you?” He looked up clearly startled.

“Uh sure Josie. What’s up?” and it was apparent, that he was still a little rattled himself. There was no doubt in the girls mind it had to do with Hope.

“I know this might be a little problematic, but I really need to know.” She pleaded with him. “Please MG tell me what happened with Hope and this Necromancer. Please tell me you know something, because Hope won’t talk to me and I feel like I’m losing my mind here.”

He looked at her with an unreadable expression for a few seconds, before answering. “I don’t know Josie. If Hope doesn’t want to tell it’s not my place. Maybe you should focus on your own problems for a change. I’m sure you still remember, but it was only a few days ago, when you were buried alive.” When he tried to leave though, Josie desperately grabbed his arm before he could disappear.

“Please MG I’m begging you. Hope is closing off and I’m afraid she will push everyone away again, including me. All I want is to help her feel better that’s all I need, but I can’t do that if I don’t know what happened.” She said, tears welling up in her eyes.

MG haltered in the silence that followed. And he nodded almost unnoticeably.

“Fine but we’re going somewhere else. This is not the right place for this conversation. So she followed him outside, where the sun wasn’t shining and the sky wasn’t blue, but rather thick with grey clouds.

And after they sat down, she waited quietly until the boy started talking himself. “After Dr. Saltzman confided in Hope about the Necromancer, who was able to resurrect people, as you probably noticed, he told her explicitly not to do anything about him. He wasn’t talking and Hope thought she knew a way to get information out of him. So she talked to him by herself. After, she came to me for help. She wanted me to help her into his mind, so she could find out who had killed him, or where Malivore was. I didn’t think too much about it, because she seemed very eager. I didn’t think about the possible consequences. So I helped her, but when I tried to stop it, tried to get her out again, he was keeping her. And I didn’t know what to do, I had never done this before.” He paused with a loud sigh and looked up at the young girl.

“Josie, she was standing there, crying and he didn’t let her leave. I don’t know what happened, but I have a feeling she hoped for some other answers, that had nothing to do with Malivore. I felt so helpless, I had brought her into this situation and didn’t know how to get her out of it and all I could do was stand there and watch, as she whimpered and shuddered.” He was getting visibly upset.

When he broke off, Josie hugged him tightly “MG none of this is your fault okay? Hope asked you for help and you wanted to help your friend. How could you have known what could happen? I don’t think Hope gives you any fault either.”

He was crying silently “I…I don’t know Josie, she hasn’t talked to me since.”

“MG she hasn’t talked to anyone since. Barely even me and we spent time together.”

The vampire boy wiped away his tears and nodded as he took a deep breath. “Uh…well after I went to find Dr. Saltzman she had come back and the knife was gone. Rafaels girlfriend had taken it. The whole thing with Hope was just a distraction, so that the Necromancer could get the knife. Dr. Saltzman was really upset, that Hope had gone against his wishes and took matters into her own hands again. And when I say upset I mean UPSET. He was even yelling at her, right after. I think Hope feels terrible about letting the knife be taken, but I think something happened when she was in there, that she won’t talk about.” He finished, having composed himself.

“Thank you so much MG.” she hugged him again.

The clouds were getting darker and far away, thunder could be heard, so they both went inside and Josie went back to Hopes room, hoping to find the girl there. She wanted to give her one last chance to tell her what happened.

Luckily the Tribrid was there, sitting there, staring at her wall. When the brunette came in she turned around to look who it was before returning to her previous position.

“Hope?” Josie asked softly before she sat down on the bed. When she didn’t get a response she tried again. “Hope please talk to me. I don’t know what happened, but I can’t help you if you won’t talk to me.”

At that Hope turned around, her eyes unusually cold. “There’s nothing for you to do. I don’t want to talk about it I thought I made that clear.” Heavy rain was now pounding against the window as it got darker and darker outside.

The younger witch felt her adrenaline pumping slightly. “Well I don’t care anymore. I’ve waited for days now and I thought you’d open up by yourself, but you won’t talk to me. In fact you won’t talk to anybody. So I talked to MG instead and he told me what happened. He’s really upset Hope he thinks it’s his fault you were trapped in the Necromancers mind. And I know you think all of this knife business is your fault, but it’s not. How could you have known the necromancer was only tricking you? My dad will get over it. Yeah he might be upset, but really he knows this is not your fault, really.” she finally snapped.

“It’s not just that Josie! MG has no idea what really happened and he shouldn’t talk about stuff he doesn’t understand.”

“So you tell me then, what is it. Why are you being like this? Did he torture you when you couldn’t get out? What were you really searching for?”

Hope had gotten up, clearly agitated, and ran her hand through her hair, before straightening up, directly looking at the brunette. Her eyes flashed amber as she yelled “Goddammit Josie. He kept me there, in the dark after telling me my father would not find peace. And I sat there and I couldn’t get out. I couldn’t go anywhere and he was gone. He didn’t say anymore, only left me alone, wondering if my family was suffering because of me.” She turned away.

“He told me my father could not find peace, before I did. But how am I supposed to find peace, when I know it’s my fault he’s dead. When I’m constantly hating myself for what I am? Maybe I’m not wishing I was dead every second of every day anymore, but do you know what I think, when I remember what my blood makes me?”

She turned back to the girl, who sat on the bed stupefied. “Because my blood, Josie, doesn’t make me powerful or great at all. The only thing my blood makes me, is damned. Damned to not only live with the burden of my parents death, until the day I finally die, relieved of the weighed I carried all my life. No but to live with it for eternity, because the day I die, I come back with the immortality of a vampire. How am I supposed to live in peace, knowing that?” she spat at her.

The following silence was deafening. That is until Josie stood up and with a surprisingly steady voice answered. “Jesus Hope and you believed him? The mighty necromancer, who tricked everyone, who only let you in his mind to keep you there, because he knew otherwise you would be the only one, that could stop him from getting that knife. You believed him, that your father was suffering, because you were still suffering his loss? And even if that were true, now what? You thought, behaving like this, shutting everyone out, shutting me out would help? How? Do you think that gives your father peace? Knowing you’re beating yourself up, pushing everyone away that loves you? If you’re supposed to find peace in yourself so he can move on, how is this the way to achieved that? If anything, you’re worse than you’ve been for a long time, because you chose to let what he told you get to you and you chose to let yourself be consumed by those feelings again, instead of choosing to try and figure out how to find peace.” Josies voice was wavering and her eyes were starting to fill with tears. “And I know you’re afraid Hope. You’re afraid that if you let yourself be happy or peaceful, you will have to accept that they are gone. But just because you’re happy doesn’t mean they are gone. They are still there for you. They are still in your memories and they are still watching over you. And I know, Hope I know, they want nothing else, than for you to feel piece, they want you to be happy. Not constantly letting yourself feel their loss, doesn’t mean you’re letting them go forever, it just means you’re healing. And I know you deserve more than anyone to be happy, so stop pushing everyone away, because that won’t change the fact that they are gone. All this time I spent with you lately, you were peaceful. The most peaceful I’ve ever known you anyways, and you seemed to let yourself be happy, so don’t stop now, because even if what the necromancer said was true, your father has found peace long ago in knowing you are letting yourself be loved.”

The brunette found herself right in front of the other girl. Her hands were placed on her neck, her thumbs lightly touching her cheeks as she searched her eyes. The tribrid was at a loss for words.

Instead of answering, tears started to stream down her face silently and Josies breath hitched. She had never seen her like this. “I miss them, so much.” Hope whispered, reaching up to hold the brunettes arms in place, closing her eyes. “I miss them so much and it hurts. I can barely look at the pictures, because every time I think about it for a second too long, I feel like I’m suffocating. My heart clenches and it feels like I’m being suffocated by emptiness. As if I was in space, floating around helplessly and there is no air for me to breathe and no escape. And it feels like I’m going to burst.”

Josies thumbs were now stroking her cheeks lightly, wiping away her tears. She bent down slightly, pressing her forehead against Hopes. “I know. And I don’t know when or if that feeling will ever go away completely, but that doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to feel happiness in between. It only means that you’re a girl, who is still grieving her parents’ loss. And that’s okay, but you can’t keep denying yourself everything good in your life. Because there can be so much good in your life, if you let yourself feel it again, instead of going back to dwelling on the bad.”

Some might have found her words harsh, but Josie knew Hope understood. So she stepped back, causing the Tribrid to look at her again with sad, blue eyes.

“I’m going to give you some time to think. When you’re ready to talk to me again, please come find me. I will be there for you.” And with that, she left Hope standing there, leaving her to figure herself out.

With a heavy heart the brunette made her way back to her room, knowing the next few days were going to be hard. Hard but necessary.


	9. 9 birthday 2.0

For the next few days, Josie gave Hope space. That involved them not talking or texting at all. Only stolen looks in the halls or classes. It hurt the young witches’ heart a little, she had to admit. After suddenly spending so much time with the Tribrid she missed her more than she’d thought, but she knew this was what they needed right now.

She could really just hope the other girl would talk to her again eventually. A good distraction was her sister. Lizzie and MG had started planning a party to celebrate their birthday again, considering how the actual birthday went. The blonde twin also admitted to doing this to distract the vampire boy, since he was still dealing with the whole situation himself. Lizzie didn’t like seeing him blame himself, so she thought of a way to keep him busy, hoping it would distract him enough to stop feeling so guilty.

Josie thought it was kind of sweet. Even though she didn’t necessarily feel like celebrating, she went along. Maybe it would be nice to spend time with her friends, since she literally had not been at her own party at all before. Also she saw MG started smiling again and joking a little and that alone was worth it.

Since she had gotten rid of her former dress, she went with her twin to buy a new one. After all Lizzie was not to be seen in the same dress twice either. So they asked their dad for permission and drove into town, to check out some stores.

The second store they went into, Josie found a cute dress that was a light lilac colour. It was tight at the top and got loser from the waist down where it almost reached to her knee. It also had straps that were a little wider, but accentuated her collarbone nicely.

While she was content with her choice her sister was having more trouble. After the next two stores were a total waste of time, they were now in the last store in town and Josie was seated in a chair, while Lizzie was frantically searching through all the dresses. She pulled out about four and disappeared into the dressing room.

The brunette was about to nod off, when her sister burst out of the dressing room in a dark green dress, that essentially looked nice, but not necessarily so on the blonde wearing it.

“How am I supposed find a dress if all are equally as horrible as this one. I look like a cheap Christmas tree, BEFORE it got decorated.” She cried loudly, alarming the cashier, who looked at her slightly offended, but didn’t say anything.

“Lizzie just try on the others, I’m sure one of them will be the one.” The brunette answered, before yawning, trying hard to be discreet about it, but failing miserably.

“Well I’m so sorry to bore you with my struggles, Jo.” Lizzie commented snippy, before disappearing again. She came out in a bright red one, that actually fit her incredibly well, but the colour made her look really pale.

She gave her twin a questioning look, instead of saying anything. Josie mustered her for a few moments before speaking up. “It fits you so well, but the colour isn’t that great on you.” She said honestly.

Lizzie didn’t seem to be offended, but looked at herself in the mirror again and nodded slightly.

The next dress was of a nice, dark blue colour, that looked good on her, but the cut wasn’t ideal, so the blonde just stood and looked at herself, running her hands over the fabric with a sad expression.

“I loooove the colour. But it doesn’t fit right and I don’t have time to bring it to the tailor. The last one is garbage I don’t even want to try it on.”

Again a nasty look was thrown their way, but the girl behind the counter didn’t speak up. Josie looked at her cautiously before standing up and walking closer to her twin.

“Except we can use magic to change the dress if we want.” She whispered.

“Hmm but changing the cut seems like a lot of work.” Her twin rebutted thoughtfully.

The brunette rolled her eyes before dragging her sister back into the changing room. She took the red one, pushed it into the blondes’ hands before unzipping the blue one.

“Sooo, we mix and match. Put this on and I’ll change the colour so it’ll be blue like this one.” She explained, holding up the blue dress. It was like a light bulb went off in Lizzies head. “Oh god I’m so dumb, of course.”

So she did as she was told and when Josie changed the colour, it became the perfect dress. It was apparent Lizzie thought the same, since her mood changed instantly and she smiled widely.

“What would I do without you, Jo.” She said before pushing her sister roughly out of the dresser. She came back out after a few moments, the original red dress in her hands and walked over to the counter to pay.

Without saying a word the cashier rang them up. And Lizzie, finding it kind of rude, commented on the way out “Well good day to you too.” But Josie thought it was kind of fair, after they had loudly described the dresses as garbage.

Anyway they drove back and on the whole ride, Josie kept checking her phone, hoping to see a text message from a certain someone. It didn’t go unnoticed by Lizzie, who chose not to address the topic, having a feeling it was kind of a sore spot at the moment. She knew though that her sister and the Tribrid had not spoken in days. She still appreciated that Josie was trying to stay positive and was attending their second birthday party anyways.

“Tonight is gonna be fun, okay? Let’s just have a good time tonight, you deserve it, Jo.”

The brunette smiled at her twin. “Thanks Lizzie, I think we both deserve some fun.”

When they got back it was already late, so they watched a movie before going to bed. The party was the next day and they didn’t want to be tired.

The next day after they had breakfast, Josie went up to their room while Lizzie went to talk to their dad. The brunette slowly started getting ready. They didn’t have any classes that day, so they had a lot of time. After some time her sister joined her and they played some music, laughing and joking, getting in the mood for a party. Her sister seemed to have an exceptionally good mood after she had come back from talking to their dad. From time to time she would look at her twin with a smirk.

Josie chalked it up to the party and was just glad her sister was having a good time already. Though in the back of her mind, she kept thinking of the fact that Hope still hadn’t talked to her.

When the time came for Josie to do some finishing touches, Lizzie spoke up from sitting on her bed. “Well I’ll head out see you later.” With a broad smile as she bounced up to leave.

“Wait Lizzie, we said we’d go together this time. I’ll be ready in a second, you really can’t wait for me?” she asked genuinely confused and stopping her movements as she looked at the blonde slightly hurt.

“I know what we said, but I have to disappoint, sorry.” She said still smiling, which only added to Josies confusion. “I’m heading out, and you better stay for another moment. Don’t worry you won’t have to walk alone. See you there!” and with that and a little wink Lizzie disappeared out the door, leaving her twin alone in the room, unsure what just happened.

What was her sister talking about? She turned around, finished by putting on some lip gloss, looked at herself in the mirror content with her appearance. She touched the necklace Hope had given her, that had since been firmly placed around her neck.

the brunette hurried towards the door in hopes of catching up with her sister, when she heard a knock and stopped in her tracks.

“Yes?” she asked unsure. The door opened to reveal Hope, in the red dress she had worn before _(because we all know damn well she looked incredible in it)_ , looking kind of unsure. Her makeup was simple, but stunning and she held something in her hands.

“Hope.” Is all Josie could formulate then.

“Hey Josie. I was wondering if you would go to the party with me?” she asked shyly, stepping into the room. “I know we didn’t talk these last days and I didn’t want to ruin your birthday party by coming to you today, but I spoke to Lizzie earlier and she said she thought you’d be happy if I came.”

The brunette still stood dumbfounded “Of course.”

“I uh..have something for you.” The tribrid continued, handing her the folded paper in her hands. Josie took it, unfolding it carefully and her breath hitched in her throat. It was a drawing of herself, the light hitting her face making it look almost like photo. It was beautiful and Josie was smiling in it, causing her to wonder if that was how Hope saw her.

“It’s…”

“Horrible?”

“Beautiful.” The younger girl corrected looking up to look into Hopes eyes. “Thank you.”

The tribrid smiled proudly in return, and turned holding her arm out for Josie to take. “We should go, you wouldn’t want to be late to your own party.”

Josie linked their arms and even if they had a lot to talk about, she was perfectly happy that Hope was there, silently walking beside her. They could always talk later.

As they walked in, the lights fell on them as they ascended the stairs arm in arm, and Josie wasn’t sure if she was able to smile any harder. The Siphoner felt happy like she hadn’t in a few days.

They went and said hi to their friends, who all complemented them. Kaleb was wearing a simple tight shirt, with a west, Rafael was in a checkered suit and Landon simply wore a tucked in shirt with a tie. They all looked very good.

MG was wearing a colourful smoking, which really suited him, but Josie barely had the chance to say anything, before he disappeared to the dance floor, dragging Lizzie along behind him, who also couldn’t stop smiling.

Just as Hope asked her if she wanted to dance, “Change your heart” by Audrey Mika came on, and the brunette agreed. She took the older girls’ extended hand and let herself be lead on the dance floor.

It wasn’t exactly a slow dance song, but Josie still put her arms around Hopes neck, as she lightly took hold of her waist.

“You look beautiful by the way.” The tribrid said smiling at her happily.

“Thank you. You look incredible yourself.” Josie returned the compliment with a blush, looking the other girl up and down.

The **_lyrics_** were softly filling the room and Josie felt it was only the two of them as she looked deep into Hopes eyes.

**_So I’m not waiting for another time to end_ **

“I’m really sorry Jo. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

**_I’m by your side_ **

“It’s okay.” Josie whispered

**_I could change your heart if you let me_ **

“I was acting so stupid. You helped me see that. Made me realize I didn’t need to be so afraid.”

**_Trying to find the one that won’t run_ **

Unsure of what to say, Josie just stepped incredibly closer and put her head on the tribrids’ shoulder “I’m here.” She whispered into her neck. “I’m not leaving you.”

“Thank you. Truly, you were there for me even when I tried to push you away. I should probably talk to MG though. Apologize.” And she felt the brunette nod slightly.

A more upbeat song came on next and their friends joined them. Lizzie appeared next to Josie and they danced, happy to be in the moment. Glad that this birthday was going according to plan and that they were spending it with their friends. MGs smile didn’t leave his face the whole evening and Josie was happy the vampire boy was finally feeling better. He pulled out his best moves to impress the blonde, who was laughing with him the whole time, a little sparkle in her eyes. They dispersed and she found herself with Hope again, since the others said they needed a break and something to drink.

When the song “What dreams are made of” by Evann McIntosh came on, the brunette realized most songs were from her playlist. She smiled to herself, as Hope led them in a soft waltz.

“I wanted to talk to you about something else too.” The tribrid admitted suddenly seeming shy again.

Josie just looked at her, waiting for her to continue. When she didn’t she prompted. “Does it have something to do with what you wanted to tell me when we were at the docks?”

“I wasn’t sure you remembered that.” The auburn haired girl admitted. She took a deep breath and looked directly at Josie, who just looked so beautiful in these lights it made Hope slightly dizzy  
“I like you Josie. I think, more than friends.”

They stopped their movements slowly. Josies smile was exchanged with a dumbfounded expression. “I don’t…I…what?” she asked quietly, her voice leaving her.

“Josie Saltzman. I think I’m falling in love with you.” Hope stated again, with a clear and confident voice, even though on the inside, she was a nervous mess.

But just as Josie opened her mouth to answer, they were interrupted. Again.

Kaleb crashed into them. “Hope we need your help. Landon had a fight with Raf and then he disappeared. We can’t find him anywhere.”

All the tribrid could do was give the younger girl a sad look as she was being dragged away by the vampire.

“Seriously Kaleb? I was in the middle of something.”

“Sorry but I have a bad feeling about this.”

So she helped him and Rafael search for their friend, while Josie was still dancing with her sister between moving bodies, while her mind was elsewhere completely.

When after an hour of searching, they still couldn’t find him, Hope said what no one wanted to address. “And you’re sure he didn’t just leave to cool off? You said he had a fight with Raf.” As she gestured towards the tall boy. “Maybe he just needed some time.”

“I don’t know Hope. I don’t think it had anything to do with that. Even so he’d already be gone for a long time and should have come back by now, no?”

The tribrid sighed “Maybe, I don’t know Kaleb. But I’m tired and there’s nothing we can do until we know more. If he hasn’t turned up by tomorrow morning, we’ll see if we can find anything, okay?” she suggested.

“Fine.” Was all he said, before they walked back to the school. When they arrived, the party was already over. And even though it made Hope incredibly nervous that she didn’t have an answer yet, it was too late to search for Josie. And if Landon really was missing, she had to prioritise finding him.

So she tried hard not to think about it too much and accepted that she had to wait for her answer. Still when she went to bed that night she couldn’t keep her mind from imagining countless scenarios raging from Josie returning her feelings, to her rejecting her and even never talking to her again.

And suddenly the big brave Tribrid felt like she had never been so scared in her life.

What she couldn’t have known though, was that she would feel even more terrified, when the next day, as she was about to leave to find Landon, Triad knocked on their door, almost taking something from her she’d never thought she’d have to lose so soon.


	10. 10 A Vial of Her Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this is it. This is the one I was talking about. I really poured some feeling into this so, not trying to blow my own horn but I think it's really good, Im kinda proud. I just hope you guys like it as well, even if it is a little heartbreaking.
> 
> Slight TRIGGER WARNING again I think, Hope dealing wiht her loss again

Her blood in a vial. Giving it away. The consequences its power had, Hope had learned the hard way.

And the thought of Josie, actually dead. It was so far away it didn’t seem possible. Though that was not unfamiliar as well. It was eerily too similar to the time her mother was still missing. To the way people talked about her in past tense as if she was already gone, but Hope was too stubborn to accept it. Everything about this situation brought back the Tribrids most excruciating memories.

She thought of the consequences giving her blood away could have. And it weighed on her, like it was the day of her mothers’ funeral.  
She felt the fear that took hold of her, when she sat in that room, shackles on her arms, unable to do anything to help her mother, who had suffered because of her foolishness. Who had still been suffering as they waited for the inevitable, because they knew they were going to die, if they didn’t find a way out.

And even when she did. When Hope had found a loophole, a sense of fake faith that this could end well, even as she watched her mother get burned and heard her screams. As she turned her head away because it was simply too painful to watch, knowing she was the reason her mother had to go through this. Knowing she was going through this for her. But Hayleys screams only ringed louder in her ears.

Hope didn’t know where she actually was. But in her mind she was in that room, and experienced everything, again.   
And her mother had known the whole time, she was not going to be able to get away because of the sunlight, and she let herself be marked for the slim chance that Hope could get away. And even that was in vain. Even that Hope couldn’t get right. And then there was nothing left for her to do, not even to watch, not to scream, not to cry or to see her mother before it was too late, nothing other than lay on the ground unconscious, as her family tumbled to ruins around her. And just like that the most important thing in her life was gone. A no one was there to catch her. Because her whole life, it had been her mother Hayley, who had been there to catch her. To catch her when her father abandoned her. To catch her when she essentially started a war with one vial filled with blood. Only for Hope to thank her by kidnapping her and causing the events that had led to her death. Only for her mother to try and catch her one last time, so that she could live.

And Hope lived. Lived through the horrible pain, even though it felt like she was dying every second of every day. And she lived through the funeral, which was so wrong it set her bones on fire. The first thing she felt, other than the impending emptiness of knowing her mother was gone and would never be able to catch her again. An anger like no other she had felt, as all she wanted to do was to watch all those strangers in the street burn, every person that was laughing or singing, or had the ability to smile while the person she had loved most in this world was gone. Every person that was feeling anything but truly hollow inside. And no one was there to catch her. In fact no one was there except for her Aunt Freya. The only person that stood through this with Hope, that tried hard to keep herself together in hopes of keeping her together as well.

And she watched the fire as the bus burned, the flames liking at its sides doing nothing to still the fire liking at her bones. And she wanted to be consumed by that fire, she wanted to die like her mother had done for her, but she lived.

Later that day her father came to her. And suddenly, after going through all this trouble to see him, it was too late. She didn’t want to see him anymore. She told him she needed him but again he refused. And she told him, if only it meant she died, she wouldn’t mind. She couldn’t live like this.

Still he refused. And she sent him away. And she lived, even if another piece of her died. And another as she watched her Aunt finally break down crying.

She realized the only thing that had held this family together had been Hayley and now she was gone. And with her, she felt her whole family slipping away through her very fingers, and she couldn’t do anything about it, not even die. Hope couldn’t see anyone, except for Freya. Freya who was there for her, but wasn’t able to catch her.

So she lived and the only thing keeping her alive was one simple sentence. “Always and forever.”  
The only sentence that kept her family together, hanging on a thread. The only sentence keeping her together as she thought of her mother, who was gone, but would still be her mother, always and forever. The only sentence that let her believe that her family would always be a family, even if they had to stay apart, always and forever. That three word sentence was the only thing that was able to catch her, as she latched on to it for dear life, because if she didn’t have it, there would not be a life to live.

And Hope felt the familiar fear of thinking these feelings would never go away. And she was scared to trust anyone with her blood, as all it had brought her was pain, emptiness, regret and the knowledge that she shouldn’t be in this world.

She had seen what death could cause and therefore, what her blood could cause.

And then she thought about Josie, dying and suddenly she was hit with the feeling of the other girl gone. Her mind repeated the moment she was shot as if in slow motion. She remembered what the wound looked like, prominent on Josie’ soft collarbone right next to the pendant she had given her, dark veins a stark contrast to her pale and smooth skin. Siphoning would not be enough, Hope knew that.

And she saw what would happen, what her death would cause. To her family, her father and to sister, to Caroline, her mother who hadn’t loved anything more in this world than her daughters, just like Hayley had loved her and like she had loved Hayley. To her friends and to Hope herself, who realized she loved Josie. Who realized she had loved Josie for some time and who suddenly felt what life would be like with her gone. A repetition of what she had already lived though, except this time she wasn’t sure, she would be able to survive.

And Hope realized even if her blood had caused death before, this time death had been caused already and her blood was the only thing to stop it. The only thing to save someone else the same pain she had known and to save herself the same pain all over again. And she saw that she had to catch herself this time. She saw there was no one else who could do anything but her, and she knew what she had to do.  
And even though Hope has been scarred before, she said a simple sentence that had caused all her suffering to flood back in, prompting her vision to blur with tears.  
  
But she caught herself. And with a surprisingly steady voice she stated “Give her a vial of my blood.”


	11. 11 rooftops at sundown

Hope and Landon were able to keep the third key from being thrown into malivore. They weren’t exactly sure how but they managed to get out after Landon had ripped Clarkes head off, just before he was able to throw the artifact into the pit and were long gone before he woke up again, cursing to himself.

Not knowing what they should do with it, they decided to bring it back to school. Hope was relieved to know her friends had dealt with the threat of the Triad Squad that had invaded the school. Not that she had doubted them, she’d just been a bit worried is all, she told herself. Truth is, the tribrid had been so worried she couldn’t wait to be back to school to learn what happened, so she called Alaric instead, her tough act completely going out the window as soon as they started talking about Josie. Landon was not going to tell anyone, but the girl started crying when she heard the Siphoner was okay, after she drank Hopes blood. He assumed it was from relief.

Now the car ride was long and Hope had a lot to figure out. Since the immediate threat was taken care of she had time to think about her confession to the brunette and the answer she has yet to have gotten. She thought about giving Josie her space after she almost died, but she wasn’t sure she could stay away much longer. The Tribrid had taken her time after the other girl had confronted her about her behaviour after she was tricked by the necromancer. Only on the twins’ birthday did she realize she had to talk to Josie, but she felt it was a bad time until she talked to Lizzie. The other girl had run into her after talking to her father in his office. Not able to hold back, Hope asked her if she thought her twin would be mad if she went to talk to her on the day of the party. Lizzie instead got really excited, told her it was a great idea, and to be at their room just before the party in a dress, so she could go to the party with Josie. So she did and it worked out wonderfully. Until Landon disappeared and everything went to shit, as it always does, at the most inconvenient times.

Hope had not had the chance to talk to the other girl since, and not knowing her answer was killing her. So she decided she would look for Josie as soon as their back. Until then she had more than enough time to figure out what to say.

Josie was really nervous all day. One would think it may have to do with the fact that she almost died. Again. However she was over that. She had healed and she was fine so she tried not to think about it. Actually she was really proud of herself and her friends. They had bested Triad and that without really harming anyone. And other than Josies’ near death experience, no one from their side was harmed either. So all in all it was a win.

Except for the fact that Hope had just confessed her feelings to her on a truly *magical* night and had been dragged away before Josie had the chance to say anything.

And truly, the brunette wanted to smack herself for not seeing this earlier, but she realized that what she had with the girl had been more than friendship all along. She told herself she wanted to be friends with Hope, because never in a million years did she think anything beyond that was even possible. Now she thought back to all the days they had spent together, and all the things she felt around the other girl. What she thought when she looked at her. And she realized she had it baaad. Like a full blown crush that in her eyes had been very _friendly_ feelings.

But now that she knew how Hope felt, it was like Josie never wanted to be apart again. Which is why the other girls absence was making her incredibly nervous.

“Jo please, tell me what’s going on? You don’t seem yourself. Tell me it has nothing to do with the fact that you were shot saving me because otherwise I might just off myself.” Lizzies’ voice pulled her back to reality. The brunette rolled on her stomach and rested her head in her hands to look at her sister.

“Hmm?”

“You’ve been staring at the ceiling the whole time I was talking. Did you hear anything I said?” she asked, in an accusatory tone. Josie just sheepishly shook her head.

“Please tell me what’s wrong?” the blonde asked again.

“Sorry Lizzie. I’m really distracted at the moment.”

“So?” her sister looked at her expectantly.

Josie let out a big huff before answering. “So you know Hope came to our room before the party and she went with me?”

Lizzie smiled proudly “Yeah I know, I set that up.” The brunettes eyes widened at she finally understood why her twin had acted so suspiciously. She shot her fake angry look before continuing.

“Well we danced and we talked. She apologised to me for acting the way she did after the whole thing with the necromancer.”

“That’s good.” Her sister commented.

“That’s not all. She…uhm how do I say this….I mean…” the brunette stammered embarrassed all of a sudden.

“Jesus Josie just spit it out already.”

“Hope confessed her feelings for me.” There was silence as Lizzies brain processed what it had just heard. She knew her sister had a crush on Hope, she didn’t know the other one reciprocated the feelings.

“Holy Shit Hope Mikaelson is in love with you?!” she exclaimed.

Josie butted in quietly “Uhm she said, uh falling…anyway. So I wouldn’t put it quite like that.”

But she was completely ignored. “And what did you say?” the blonde asked now pacing across the room.

“Well that’s the problem I couldn’t say anything, because Landon got himself into trouble and Kaleb interrupted us. And now that I think about it, Lizzie I think I have a crush on Hope too.”

Halting all her movements Lizzie looked at her sister amused “Well DUH I think we all knew that, Jo.”

The brunette got up now “What do you mean you knew, I didn’t even know.”

Her sister threw her smug look “Well I for one thought it was very obvious. I tried telling you, you just denied, sissi.” as she booped her twins nose.

“Okay fine maybe you were right. But Lizzie, what do I do now?” Josie asked, sounding more and more desperate.

“What do you mean? You tell her you feel the same, obviously.” The blondes answered rolling her eyes.

It was Josie who was pacing now. “You say that like it’s easy. I’m a mess already. What if she realized she changed her mind? What If she realized she still loved Landon after he was in life threatening danger?”

Lizzie stopped her pacing, holding her arms in place to look directly at her. “You know that’s bullshit Jo. Hope would never tell you if she wasn’t a hundred percent sure. Also speaking of life threatening danger, you literally would have died if it wasn’t for Hopes blood. Which she never would have given you in the first place, if you didn’t mean something to her.”

“I know I’m being stupid. I’m just really really nervous.” The brunette admitted, ducking her head between her shoulders.

“Well, pull yourself together, you got yourself a Mikealson to charm, so you better think about what you’re going to tell her when she comes back.” And with that she pushed her twin towards the door. “Also do it somewhere else, because you’re sulking is distracting me and I need to finish my part for my presentation with MG.”

So Josie found herself outside her door, slightly confused at what just happened but knowing her sister was right. A look at her phone told her it was already late and it would get dark outside soon. Hope was sure to come back sometime soon. So the brunette went to the roof, where she sat alone as the sun was on her way to go down and she thought about everything she wanted to tell the tribrid with her dreamy blue eyes and perfect smile.

As soon as the car came to a halt Hope jumped out, yelling to Landon over her shoulder “You’ll be fine right? Great bye!" and practically sprinted into the school.

She knew she probably should have talked to Alaric first, but she felt like Josie was most important now, everything else could wait. The first place she should go was the twins’ dorm room.

She barely registered anything or anyone until she stood in front of the door and knocked gently. When she heard Lizzies voice call out “Come in” her heart sank a little. Still she opened the door slightly, until she was visible and she spotted the blonde on her bed, looking up to see who it was.

“Oh Hope.” She stated, a weird grin spreading on her face.  
Looking around and seeing the room otherwise empty, Hope already itched to leave. “I’m looking for…”

“Josie I know. Well she’s not here.”

The tribrid hesitated, but stepped further into the room. “Is Josie ok?” she asked sincerely, feeling a little ashamed she left after the brunette had been shot.

Lizzie responded by rolling her eyes. “Yes I’m pretty sure she’s fine. If you’re talking about her nearly dying, it doesn’t seem to affect her as much as the fact that she hasn’t spoken to you. So you should find her instead of talking to me.”

And as Hope went out the door, the blonde shouted after “I’d look on the roof if I were you.”

So that’s where Hope headed next. Suddenly even though she was in such a rush before, she felt like she had all the time in the world. Like she knew Josie was on that rooftop, waiting for her and that everything would work out. That didn’t stop the nerves from coming up when she stood in front of the door.

But she opened it nonetheless and there stood Josie, framed by the dark orange and light pinks of the sun going down, and suddenly Hope felt like all the weight had been lifted off her shoulders. The brunette faced away from the tribrid until she stood right behind her. That’s when the witch noticed her presence and turned around.  
They already stood so close and somehow they both had to catch their breath for a moment. Something had definitely changed between them. There was a certain tension, some kind of anticipation now.

They both just took each other in before Hope started speaking. “How are you Josie? Are you ok? I feel so horrible I left after you were shot…I…for a moment I….I really thought I could lose you.”

Josie put her hands on Hopes face, stroking her cheek ever so slightly. “Hey...hey...Hope look at me. I’m fine and I’m here. I’ll be ok. I would be dead if it wasn’t for you. You saved my life. Again.” She answered, chuckling lightly at the end.

The other girl chuckled as well. “Yeah.” They looked at each other again, Josies hands still on the other girls face. “I didn’t know if I should come right away or if you needed to rest but…I couldn’t do it. I really needed to see you Jo. After we talked at the party, that was all I could think about and not knowing your answer…Especially after what happened. Realizing you could die if I don’t do anything...it made me realize just how much I’d already fallen for you.” The tribrid admitted again.

Josie brown eyes shined golden in the sunlight as she looked back at Hope. And instead of answering she closed the small gap between them, pressing their lips together. Hope responded fast by putting her arms around Josies’ waist pulling her even closer. As they parted, the brunette put her forehead against the other girls’.

“Oh Hope.” Josie sighed. “Of course I like you too, how could I not.” as she broke out into a huge smile.

The tribrid couldn’t hold back her own grin from spreading across her face, as she pulled the younger girl in a second kiss, which really was more teeth than anything, but nothing beat the feeling of Josies’ smile against her lips, that Hope was sure of.


	12. 12 classes are off today

They sat on the edge of the roof, looking up at the stars. Josie had Hopes jacket wrapped around herself tightly and even though she still was a little cold she never wanted this moment to end.

“You know maybe this is wrong for me to say, but when I was shot I was never actually worried I would die. I knew that you would save me Hope, like you always do. That’s probably really stupid and dangerous to assume, I know. But I didn’t doubt it for a second.” Josie admitted. “Maybe that’s why I don’t feel so troubled with it this time. Because I never realized how dangerous the situation actually was.”

Hope seeing the girl tremble lightly, maybe from cold or from the memory she wasn’t sure, embraced her tightly. “Well either way, I think you’ve had enough near death experiences for a while. I wouldn’t mind if you avoided them from now on, even if you count on me to save you.”

The brunette smiled at her before laying her head on the tribrids shoulder “Yeah me too. But I know you always will if it comes to it.”

They sat in silence until Hope couldn’t ignore the shivering any longer. “I think it’s time I bring you back to your room.”

Josie sat up with a pout. “”But I want to stay.”

“Yeah well tough luck. You’re cold and I don’t want you to freeze to death. That would make the whole saving your life thing a little pointless don’t you think.” She said grinning.

When Josie still refused to move, the Tribrid simply picked her up and set her on her feet.

“Fine.” The siphoner mumbled, letting herself be lead back to her room. She tried to convince Hope to stay, but she refused, promising they could spend the day tomorrow together, but argued she wanted Josie to rest properly.

Josie, not being able to forget the feeling of the other girls’ lips on hers, tried another method to convince the girl.

She put her hands on Hope neck and leaned in slowly, looking from her lips to her blue eyes with the dilated pupils before kissing her painfully slow.

When she pulled away the older girl had her eyes closed and took a deep breath, trying to compose herself. “Jesus Christ, Josie.”

The brunette just raised an eyebrow. When she tried to lean in again, Hope put a hand on her shoulder and slightly leaned back, trying hard to resist Josies lips. She shifted her gaze to her chocolate eyes. “Goodnight Jo.” Before giving her one last peck and leaving to go to her own room. It had been a really stressful last few days and the tribrid knew, if she slept in the same bed as the younger girl she would barely be able to sleep.

The brunette went into her room, where her twin was already sleeping peacefully, before she changed into her sleeping clothes and went to bed quietly. She realized if she didn’t have her thoughts of Hope distracting her, she would be struggling with what happened to her. She would remember being buried with a painful clutch around her chest and think of her biological mother with tears stinging in her eyes. And maybe it was unhealthy, but Hope made her feel better and even if she tried to think about all the trauma of the last few weeks, Josie always came back to memories of the time she had spent with the other girl. And even if that was the only reason she felt okay with all of it, she decided she didn’t mind too much.

So she fell into a slumber with thoughts of strong arms and soft lips.

The next morning Hope was quick to shower and get ready. She put on tight black jeans and a long sleeve in a dark red. She put on light makeup and texted Josie that she was going to pick her up at her room so they could go to breakfast together.

When she arrived at the twins rooms she knocked. Before she could open the door the twins came out.

Josie had her hair straight and wore a blue sweater over a shirt with a wavy collar. Hope loved when the brunette wore those.

She opted for a kiss on the cheek and received a shy smile in return. The brunette linked their hands together and they went to the dining hall. To Hopes surprise Lizzie hadn’t made a single remark yet.

During breakfast everyone noticed the constant smiles and subtle touches they gave each other, but no one really said anything. Instead they all listened to MG and Lizzie, who practiced their presentation and gave advice here and there.

Josie looked at the tribrid who was watching Lizzie with a smirk. “We really should finish our presentation too. After all it’s in two days.” Hopes blue eyes shifted to her.

“Yeah well why don’t we do it first right after breakfast? We’ll have it out of the way and can just spend some time together. Alaric said classes are off today.”

“Okay great. We don’t have too much left to do anyways.”

After they were done eating they excused themselves and went up to Hopes room. They finished the last bullet points and decided who would talk about which parts. Soon they were done and Josie sighed loudly.

“Finally. Can we do something else now?”

“What did you have in mind?” Hope asked.

Josie came closer with a smirk. She leaned in until their lips were almost touching “Something like this” she whispered, before the tribrid couldn’t hold back any longer and closed the gap in a desperate kiss.

When the brunette gasped softly, Hope seized the opportunity and deepened the kiss, pushing her tongue past the other girls’ lips. Josie grasped her shoulders tightly, turning them around, letting herself drop on the bed. The tribrid soon followed, settled between her legs and attached their lips again. When she pulled back slightly, she tugged on Josie lower lip, who moaned in response and pushed her head back, exposing her neck. The sound made Hopes breath hitch in her throat and she shifted to the brunettes neck, trailing open mouthed kisses from her jaw downwards, until she reached a particularly sensitive spot where she scraped her teeth across the skin before kissing it, as she pushed forwards into the brunette. The sound Josie made in response simply was too much for Hope to take and as she felt her eyes flashing amber she pulled away, slightly out of breath.

“I think this is a good place to stop.” She said between heavy breaths, as she looked down on Josie, who looked beautiful, slightly flushed with dishevelled hair splayed across the pillow.

The siphoner thought the same as she looked up, unable to breathe for a second as she took in blue eyes framed by auburn hair that shined brightly in the sunlight coming through the window.

“Yes.” Is all she could breathe out before the tribrid got off of her and went over to her canvas.

She ran a hand through her hair before she continued the painting she had started on the docks with Josie.

“You know I thought it would be nice if we had a movie night. I could put something together at the old mill and we could watch a movie, just the two of us.” She spoke into the room without looking at the younger girl.

“Are you asking me out, Hope Mikaelson?” Josie asked, snaking her arms around Hope from behind.

“Maybe.”

The brunette smiled, giving the tribrid a kiss on the cheek “Sounds great.”

She sat down on the bed and started telling Hope about what happened with Triad after she had left. She told her how the witches worked together to disarm them while Kaleb made sure all the younger kids got on the busses outside. She talked about MG who used her necklace to rally everyone together and how Lizzie and her helped him when he was about to get shot too.

At that part Hope exhaled loudly and stopped painting for a moment. “I’m just happy it went well this time. But I don’t know what will happen next. What will they do next time? It can’t continue on like this, we still have the artefact and as long as it’s here, we don’t know what kind of danger we’ll have to face next. There’s only so many times we can get away relatively unharmed before someone actually dies.”

“Hope, my dad is working on it. For now that’s all we can do. I’m sure we’ll find a solution soon.”

“I hope so.”

Attempting to lighten the mood Josie grabbed her ukulele and played some chords. The tribrid visibly relaxed at the sound and sat down next to the brunette, pulling her into her front. The younger girl felt her calm breathing and adjusted her own breathing as she leaned into her.

She started playing “Coffee breath” by Sofia Mills and sang the lyrics quietly.

“You’ve got those big blue eyes, drive me crazy, make me fantasize about you baby.”

Then she felt Hope lips on her temple and in that moment with the light coming in through the half closed, white curtains, the familiar warmth of the girl she had come to like so much and the smell of her shampoo she felt happy like she hadn’t in a long time.

When she was done she put the ukulele to the side and turned in the older girls’ arms so she could look at her face.

Hopes expression was really peaceful as her eyes wandered across Josies face, taking in every last detail. Before Josie could say anything she spoke up. “You’re the best person I know. You make me want to be better, try harder for the people I love. You make me want to be the best girlfriend, because you deserve so much Josette Saltzman. You deserve someone, who always tries to be the best they can for you and I want to be that someone.”

“Did you just say girlfriend?” the brunette asked and when the tribrid nodded she chuckled a “Good.” before she leaned in to kiss the other girl, who immediately kissed her back.

Unlike before the kiss wasn’t urgent or pressing, but patient and innocent.

Josie pulled back with a really big smile before she burrowed her face in Hopes shoulder.

A loud knock was heard before Lizzie opened the door without waiting for an answer,

“Hey lovebirds. We’re heading to the lake again, wanna join? I told MG I had spent enough time with Hope lately to last for a lifetime, but he insisted I ask. So don’t think I’m taking a liking to you yet, Mikaelson.” She said squinting at the girl, who laughed loudly, knowing the blondes words weren’t meant seriously.

Josie on the other hand threw her sister a pointed stare before moving to get up. “Sure, wait up. I’m gonna get my bathing suit. Meet up at our room?” she asked the older girl as the sisters went out the door.”

The tribrid also got up slowly, walking over to her dresser to grab her own bathing suit. “Yup.”   
When her door was closed she got changed really quickly and went over to the twins’ room to meet them.

Josie had put on simple top with red shorts and put two clips in her hair. Suddenly kind of excited they hurried to the lake where their friends were already in the water.

When Josie put her hair into a ponytail and exposed her neck Hope not only felt weak in her knees, she also felt reminded of the day they spent at the lake a few weeks ago, when she had first noticed that maybe the way she felt about Josie was a little more than friendly.

This time though Josie immediately got into the water as well, after she had run up to the tribrid and yelled “Tag you’re it.” Then she ran way from her giggling. Hope quickly followed, disregarding her own clothes.

When the brunette splashed water at her laughing violently, she fake gasped loudly, before diving under, wrapping her arm around Josies legs and lifting her out of the water. Just after the other girl had her hands on the Tribrids shoulders for support, she threw herself backwards submerging them both.

The young witch came up pushing her hair out of her face, breathing heavily and as Hope took her in with her wet hair, chest heaving she felt really in love. Before she could react Josie pushed herself up on her shoulders again, using her full weight to push the tribrid under.

When she came up again, she laughed with her friends, before pressing a kiss on the other girls’ lips, who immediately put her hand in the nape of her neck lovingly.

After they broke apart the older girl looked at her friends with an evil smirk. “Who’s ready for a water wrestling match?” and lifted her girlfriend on her shoulders with ease.

Landon went on Rafaels shoulders and Lizzie on MGs. Hope and Josie easily pushed Landon down as Kaleb made the commentary of what was happening.

“And now, the sisterly battle begins. Who will come out victorious? OH Damn I don’t know if this can still be called fair game. Both go to incredible measures, determined to be the last one standing, but…but...Lizzie pushes her sister into the water and lifts her arms, celebrating her victory. We’re not gonna talk about the fact that her partner kicked his opponent underwater, giving them a clear advantage.”

So they spent some time in the water, laughing and pushing each other, until the sky started to turn orange.

This time when they came out of the water, Josie was not embarrassed as she looked her now girlfriend up and down, who only have her a bashful smile in return before she wrapped the brunette in a towel.

The younger girl though drew her finger down her stomach, along the defined muscles. “Damn suddenly I’m really happy you spent so much time with my dad, if it means you’re training together.”

And as Hope bit her cheeks trying to keep herself from breaking into a grin, Josie noticed how surrounded by trees, the tribrids eyes were more green than blue, the same way they had been more grey during the time she barely talked to her after the whole Necromancer dilemma. How much had changed in those few days. During that time the brunette had been really worried that Hope would go back to shutting everyone out and here they were, spending time with their friends and Hope couldn’t be more open about her feelings.

“So you two a thing now?” Sounded Rafaels voice, who was drying himself of and Josie noted how her sister didn’t follow him with her eyes anymore, instead smiling at MG consistently and she was happy for her.

“I thought it was kind of obvious.” laughed Hope, pulling the younger girl closer again.

“I for one, already knew.” Landon butted in cheekily.

“Yeah?” asked the Tribrid.

“The way you ran off yesterday, when we arrived? It was kind of comical to be honest.” He answered. Hope jokingly slapped his arm as Josie started giggling lightly. “Oh shut up.”

On the way back they started talking about the upcoming football game with the mystic falls high school. Alaric had agreed they were allowed to win, if they did so without using their powers and everyone had agreed.

“Lizzie you have to be quarterback. We’re shit without your leadership.” MG tried convincing the blonde, who had their arms intertwined.

“Fine I’ll do it for the common good. But, no offence Landon, the hobbit is not allowed on the field.” She stated matter of factly. The curly haired boy only looked mildly offended before he answered. “Yeah that’s probably for the best anyway.”

Kaleb and Lizzie started discussing game plans until they had to part to go to their separate rooms. The blonde twin kissed MG cheek and no one commented on it.

Josie whispered something to her sister, who nodded after looking at the tribrid suspiciously. Then the brunette turned towards Hope. “How about, you sleep over at ours tonight, and the three of us watch a movie together? What do you say?”

The older girl looked past her girlfriend, casting the blonde a questioning glance. “And you approve?”

“Yeah but only under the condition that I choose the movie.” was her answer. She smirked before nodding at Josie.

“Great.” The brunette said before skipping ahead.

After they all had changed and gotten ready for bed, Hope had gotten an oversized shirt from Josie with some sleeping shorts, they got comfortable, Lizzie in her own bed and the other two cuddled into each other on Josies bed. The blonde chose to watch ‘Clueless’ and Hope didn’t care enough to argue.

The brunette, just like before the first time in the tribrids room, passed out after a few short minutes and Hope just listened to her breathing, equally as excited as the first time the girl had cuddled up to her.

“Don’t tell her I said this, but you two are kind of cute together.” sounded Lizzies voice. The room was basked in the dim light of the projector and with Josies weight at her side, Hope felt so peaceful she thought, if Lizzie asked her the right questions right now, she would tell her everything her heart contained.

But it remained to be only that sentence and the short answer. “Secret’s save with me.”

After that only comfortable silence followed as they watched the movie, until the blondes’ even breaths suggested she had also fallen asleep.

Even Hope fell asleep this time, before the movie had ended, and she felt like she hadn’t slept this peaceful in years.


	13. Getting used to

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yall Im sorry uni started for me and Ive been really busy dealing with it. Sorry to say but this chapter is rather uninteresting but i didnt want you to think I disappeared. The following will be better though I hope!

When she opened her eyes, she noticed the soft light coming in through the window, the soft snores coming from the bed next to her and the light rising and falling of the body on top of her own.

Her first instinct was to smile to herself. Hope looked down at Josie, whose brown hair was splayed over her face, so she lifted her hand carefully as to not wake the girl up and started softly stroking the hair behind the brunettes’ ears. After a few strokes her hand lingered at her ear and started playing with the piercings until she dragged her thumb down the side to the girls jaw.

The early morning light fell on the still sleeping girl and Hope thought it made her look like a painting. When Josie slowly opened her eyes and blinked a few times, before yawning loudly, the older girl smiled down at her. The brunette however still seemed very confused about her whereabouts and gave the tribrid a questioning look.

“You’re really pretty.” She told her with a smirk.

In response Josie just buried her face in her hands to hide the smile creeping on her face. “Oh shut up, I just woke up.”

“I think I feel some kind of morning nausea and obviously I’m not pregnant so I think it’s time for the no doubt Mikaelson-type cheesy Tribrid to get her ass out of bed and out of my room. We have to get ready for breakfast.” Hope was so focused on Josie she hadn’t noticed the soft snores had stopped.

She turned her head to look at the blonde and smirked with a raised brow “Aw Lizzie are you jealous? Don’t worry if you ask real nice next time maybe I’ll sleep in your bed.”

The girl in her arms stirred “Wait what? No.” as she looked around, somehow looking even more confused than before. “Guys it’s too early for this.”

The older girl started untangling herself from her girlfriend with difficulty. “Lizzie is kind of right though. I should take a shower before breakfast and it’s already late. See you guys then?” she asked and both girls nodded. Then Hope gave Josie a small kiss on the forehead while her twin made a loud gagging noise and the brunette mumbled into her pillow angrily. “You’re infuriating.” Causing the other two to laugh loudly as the Tribrid slipped out the door.

On her way to her room she realized that it was kind of weird, they got along so well, that she slept over in their room with the three of them together. She felt like now that she wanted to open up more, everything was happening rather fast, but surprisingly she was fine with it.

She took a rather quick shower as she realized it was really late and she had to hurry to get to breakfast if she wanted to have some time to eat.

When she was sat at the table she tried hard not to eat too much. Hope was really hungry but she knew she only had one period before she had her break, in which she inevitably had to train with Alaric. If she ate too much now she would get stomach pains while working out.

During the whole breakfast her friends were chatting, but she couldn’t seem to concentrate. She kept spacing out, caught up in thoughts about Malivore, her new relationship and her parents.

When the brunette next to her slighty moved her head to look into chocolate eyes and asked “Everything alright babe?” and Hope smiled broadly at the nickname.

“Yeah everything is okay. I’m just lost in thought.” The tribrid nodded reassuringly.

“Oh okay. You’d tell me if there was anything right?” Josie asked, her face scrunched in a cute slightly concerned expression.

Still returning with a soft smile Hope answered “Of course. Are you still coming to my room after class?”

At that the brunette witch shifted back awkwardly with an apologetic expression. “Actually, I’m sorry Hope, but I have school stuff to do and I promised MG to meet him in the library so that I can help him. We just talked about that didn’t you hear?”

“Oh sorry, no I wasn’t paying attention. Well that’s fine. Actually it’s perfect, I’ll have time to catch up on stuff myself and prepare for movie night at the mill. That is if you have the time tonight.” Hope hand was lightly dancing up and down Josie side and she could barely comprehend how such a subtle touch could feel so perfect.

The younger girl leaned closer again, gave her a peck, which lasted way too short in the Tribrids opinion, and smiled her perfect smile. “Of course, just text me a time after seven and I’ll be there.”

And so a weirdly empty feeling day started and Hope realized, to her surprise, how used to the company of the brunette she had become in such a short time. The time in which she didn’t see the twin, which was most of the day except for quick glances, she pondered if it was unhealthy how unfocused she was without her, instead longing to be near her and how dependant she felt on the young witch. But she figured this was normal in a fresh relationship and decided to make sure this would not get out of hand.

She tried to the best of her ablities to stay focused while sparring wiht Alaric in second period and she somewhat succeeded but she couldn't help but notice how after a few days without training she felt so incredibly out ot shape. Alaric sensing Hopes frustrating as her punches lacked force and precision, took down his hands and waited until the girl looked him in the eyes.

"Hope, the last few days were draining okay? You're just a little worn out with the next few days, good sleep and regular traning you'll be back in no time. Don't worry okay? It's all taken a toll on me too, but you gotta know it's just a minor setback."

When the Tribrids only answer was a small nod and her looking down at the ground again, he sighed slightly worried. "Is there anything else that's bothering you?"

Hope looked over to the water and let her eyes drift in thought. Why was she feeling like this? Maybe it really was only her lack of perfomence in training today, she couldn't really tell. She just felt overall frustrated, unsure of the reasons. "I don't know." she answered truhtfully, her eyes shone green as she looked up at him with a strong expression. "If I find out, I'll tell you." They took it easier and slower for the rest of the lesson, so the Tribrid could really focus on her movements and she felt a little better after. When second period was almost over she hurried to the locker rooms and got ready for the rest of her classes.

After her last class she hurried to Josie last class to walk her to the library. Hope was waiting in front of the door, giving polite smiles to the people greeting her, until she saw the familiar figure of the brunette, who gave her a confused look obviously not expecting her, which the Tribrid on the other hand returned with a wide grin that represented the bubbling feeling that came up her chest.

“Hi.” The older girl breathed out.

When she arrived in front of her, the younger witch returned the smile and gave Hope a kiss on the cheek. “Hey babe.”

“I thought I could walk you to the library?” she answered the questioning look from before.

Josie tilted her head a little, scrunched her nose and responded “Oh that’s sweet.”

They stood there for a second looking at each other until Hope scrambled to take the brunettes books and they started walking towards the library. After a few seconds, Josie linked her arm into Hopes and the Tribrid felt overwhelmingly chipper after the day had felt so excruciatingly long and lonely.

In comparison the walk to the library, where MG was already waiting, seemed way too short to her liking, as did the goodbye kiss Josie gave her before turning around and walking over to their friend. Hope let her eyes follow the brunettes’ long legs in adoration, before she herself turned around and left to go to her room, where she hoped she would be able to concentrate on her homework.

The Tribrid had planned the movie night during classes already, when she was unable to keep her mind of her girlfriend anyways and she had a few things to prepare. And if she wanted to get those things done she had to hurry with her work.

As soon as she reached her room she was intent on getting the school work out of the way as quickly as possible. Hope hunkered down at her desk, didn’t even turn on music, like she would usually and got it all done in record time.

Proud and smiling to herself she leaned back in her chair for a moment, in happy anticipation of spending her evening on a date with Josie and excited for preparing the movie date.


End file.
